Rainbow Six Siege: Undercover
by reactiverainbow
Summary: Ela, Valkyrie, Thermite, Thatcher, and Bandit must revisit their checkered pasts when they are sent undercover to Iraq after the CIA receives information of White Masks aiding the Islamic State in terrorizing U.S. soldiers and civilians. How will these operators fight the mental battle of reliving the haunting memories that they thought they had left behind? Warning: Graphic
1. Chapter 1

**Rainbow Six Siege: Undercover**

 **Chapter 1**

The sun shined through the windows one of the war rooms in Langley. Around the table sat men in suits. At the very end of the long table sat the director of Rainbow Six. An elite counter terrorist group home to some of the best counter terrorism operators from around the world. She went by the callsign, "Six." Six was ready to get down to business. She knew something bad was brewing if the CIA specifically asked for her presence in Langley. An older gentleman entered the room and shook Six's hand.

"Director Six. Thank you for coming today on such short notice." The old man said with a smile.

The man sat down in a chair opposite of Six.

"Six, your team's efforts in Truth or Consequences was truly remarkable. Your team's efforts prevented a world catastrophe. We are now able to start rebuilding again. I think I can say on the behalf of the entire United States, we thank you and your operatives."

"You're welcome. It's why we're here."  
"Unfortunately, the thank you for your service is not the reason why I requested you here today."

"We're both busy people director so I figured as much."

"Right. I have been aware that since Article 5, your team has been pursuing the White Mask Syndicate?"

"Yes sir."

"Tell me about them."

"Honestly director, we still don't know the specifics about them. These guys can launch an attack anywhere and at any time they please. They are indiscriminate to their victims. Also, they're very well trained and organized. They've become such a threat that they're the reason why my team was reactivated."

"So, this syndicate is just roaming around the world freely praying on the innocent and we don't have a name, country of origin…."

"Pretty much. Intelligence has been working day and night trying to track these guys but haven't found a single lead. Until intelligence can start giving us specific places to look, my team stays ready to respond to any terroristic threat happening around the world."

"What are the backgrounds on your operators?"

"We're made of very mixed backgrounds and nationalities. Some have prior military experience, some in police, and some undercover. Unfortunately, there's not much on their files that isn't covered by black ink."

"I see."

The old man leaned back in his chair looking lost in thought.

"Sir, why have you called me here today? I can tell there's something you want to ask me."

"Are you aware that the White Mask are suspected to be working with the Islamic State in the Middle East?"

Six stared blankly at the director of the CIA.

"I beg your pardon?" She mustered up.

The old man leaned forward on the table.

"The White Mask Syndicate that your team is pursuing is suspected to be allying themselves with the Islamic State in the Middle East. They're attacking American soldiers and various military installations. We don't know why they've been working with them, but we need to stop them. We're losing our foot hold. We can't afford to let the Islamic State take the Middle East."

Six was surprised by the White Mask's audacity to attack the U.S. military directly. But why align themselves with the Islamic State? It made no sense.

"So, what are you proposing?"

"Send 5 operators from you team into enemy territory. They'll be working completely undercover. Collect any intel you can get on who's leading the White Masks in the Middle East and take him out. They'll be sent to Iraq. The country has erupted into a warzone again but it's worse than Operation Iraqi Freedom. White Masks have been killing our men left and right. It ends now. We have a CIA operative in Baghdad who can help them. Find the White Mask leader and take him down by any means necessary. Hopefully they'll stop attacking our soldiers and maybe we'll learn more about the group in the process."

"But why us director? These operators are important to the world's safety. I can't just sacrifice 5 of my best operators to sit and play grab ass in Iraq for however long this operation will take. You have guys that can carry out this mission for you."

"Six, as far as the world knows, your team doesn't exist. Rainbow Six is as classified as it gets. This will enable your operatives to work above all laws to do whatever means necessary to take these assholes out and save lives without all the red tape. Your team doesn't have to follow rules of engagement and the Geneva convention like the military does. They don't have to follow laws. We've tried dealing with the problem through diplomacy and military tactics. It's not working. Your team is our final option. You go in, get the job done by any means, and by any means, I mean literally do whatever the fuck you need to do to take these terrorists down, while remaining under the radar with no loose ends. Make sure no one gets caught. There's nothing we can do if, god forbid, someone gets captured or revealed. The allied forces, governments, or the enemy will not be aware of your team's presence. We want to keep it that way."

Six couldn't muster up a response. It was clear of the United State's intentions at this point in the war on terror. Do whatever means necessary to defeat the enemy; even if means breaking the law.

"I'll have my correspondents send you the marching orders. For now, go back to Hereford and assemble your team. I'll be waiting to hear from you once you're ready. You have 1 month to prepare. Dismissed."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Six pondered about the mission on her flight back to Hereford. She didn't feel comfortable about the mission handed to her. Maybe it was the fact that she would be sending her operators into a total warzone. It would be a totally new setting for Rainbow, but she knew her operators could handle it though. The amount of experience some of the operators had with being deployed would play in their favor. That's what she'd base her operator selection for the mission off of. She looked out the window of her plane. It was cloudy and drizzling. The usual weather in England. After the plane landed and Six was settled back in she went to straight to her office. Hereford Base buzzled with activity. Recruits went about with their usual training. She saw some of her operators in the mix doing physical training with them.

"Good afternoon Director Six." A voice female voice said with a heavy German accent running past her. GSG 9 operator and Electrical Engineer Monika Weiss was getting her usual afternoon run.

"Good afternoon." Six said smiling and made her way to her building. She climbed the steps of the old brick building to the top floor. She walked down the hall to her office. It was so silent she could hear a pin drop. She unlocked her door put her bag down and approached a safe behind her desk. She placed her thumb on a thumb print scanner. The safe unlocked itself revealing a shelf full of manila folders. Everything Six needed to know about her operators were in the folders. She pulled out all the folders and laid them in a pile on her desk. She took a seat and opened the first folder on top of the pile. The name on the tag read: ALVAREZ, MARIA.

She placed the file back in the safe. She needed operators with experience in undercover work and has had time in country. She turned her chair around and looked out the window toward the base pondering her thoughts. She knew all of their backgrounds extremely well. She personally handpicked every operator on her team.

She leaned forward in her chair and staring at the pile of folders until an idea hit her. Six startled shuffling through the folders looking for the name she desired.

"Gotcha." She pulled out the folder that read, "BRUNSMEIER, DOMINIC." She opened the file and skimmed through his previous missions. Most of the file was covered in black ink so there wasn't much to read but she already knew Dominic's previous work before he joined Rainbow. He was an undercover cop who infiltrated the Hanover Chapter Hell's Angels. He did a lot of dark things over there. He has plenty of experience in working undercover. But not in a war zone. She placed his file on one side of her desk starting a new pile. She opened another folder that read, "COHEN, ELIZA." She flipped through Eliza's folder looking at her previous experience. Eliza was born in Jerusalem and saw action in the Middle East when she was in the Israeli military. She'd be a nice fit for the team, but Eliza was on break. She'd just gotten back from Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. Six wanted to give her a break. She didn't want to risk having her make mistakes and jeopardizing the team. She placed her folder in the safe. She thought of another operator and fished through the big pile of operators until she found the name she was looking for. She pulled a file that read: "BOSAK, ELIZABETHA." She flipped through her file. Six knew her well but not in a good way. She's been a trouble maker her entire life. Ela, Liz, Elizabeth, Elizabetha or whatever the operators on base has 2 tours in Iraq. One as a private military contractor and the other doing undercover work for the Grom known as Operation Orange Sky. Dismantling terrorist networks was one of her specialties. During Orange Sky she worked alongside Valkyrie, one of Rainbow's Navy Seal operators and top intelligence gatherers. The two managed to destroy an entire terrorist cell in Iraq without killing a single civilian. Six placed Ela's folder with Dominic's and looked through the pile of operator names. She pulled out a file that said, "CASTELLO, MEGHAN." She placed Meghan's file with Ela and Dominic. The girls were young, but she knew they could handle it together. After tedious amounts of work, she found her squad of 5 for the mission. The 5 operators that would be taking part in the mission would be, "Dominic Brunsmeier (Bandit), Elizabetha Bosak (Ela), Meghan Castello (Valkyrie), Jordan Trace (Thermite), and Mike Baker (Thatcher). Jordan and Mike have been deployed to the Middle East multiples times and saw a lot of action. They'd go as look outs and keep everyone in line while the other 3 did majority of the undercover work. Mike will be assigned as mission lead. Mike had lead many missions during Desert Storm so there was no questioning his ability to make decision and listen to his advisors. She picked up the phone on her desk and dialed a number on a secure line.

"Six?" An old rough voice said.

"Mike, I need you, Dominic, Elizabetha, Meghan, and Jordan to my office please."

"Yes ma'am. Give me some time to round them up."

Six hung up her phone and turned in her chair toward the windows.

Mike hung up his phone. When Six asks for specific operators to her office it normally meant something bad was going on in the world that Rainbow had to fix, or someone needed discipline beyond his paygrade. Mike took his glasses off his head and rubbed his temples. He rose from his desk and exited his office to the noisy hallway of the dorm where all the operators stayed. He could hear music being played at one end of the hallway and ambient chit chat from the different rooms. Each operators callsign was written on the doors to show whose room belonged to who. He walked down the hall glancing at the doors. No sign of the people he was looking for. He made his way to the common room in the middle of the two hallways. Jordan Trace was on the couch along with his fellow American operatives, Craig Jensen, Miles Campbell, and Jack Estrada. They were watching a football game on the TV. Mike rolled his eyes. He could never understand American football. He didn't know how they could even call it, "football." There was only one kind of football Mike knew and that was with using your feet. Real football.

"Hey Trace, aren't you missing someone in your group?"

"Eliza thinks football is 'silly.' " Jordan said still watching the game and making air quotes with his fingers on the 'silly' part.

"I strongly agree with her. Quit watching your childish games. Boss wants you in her office."

"God damnit what did I do this time?"

Jordan got up from the sofa and stretched.

"Can't be anything that bad because I was requested there too. I'll meet you there."

"Yeah don't get lost old man. We know you're getting senile these days."

"Wanker."

Jordan laughed and walked downstairs.

"You chaps know where I can find Meghan, Elizabetha, and Dominic?" Mike asked to the rest of the guys watching the football game.

Right as Mike asked his question he caught a flash of bright green hair walk out from the laundry room with a laundry basket. He could hear the music from the headphones she was wearing and the gum she was chewing on as she walked past him.

"Elizabetha, Six wants you in her office." Mike said as she walked past him.

She kept walking as if she was ignoring him. Mike reached and pulled a headphone out of her ear.

"Can you hear me with those bloody things blaring in your ears?"  
"Yes I heard you grandpa!" Ela said annoyed. Her English had a heavy Slavic accent whenever she spoke.

"Then acknowledge me when I address you."

Ela put her headphone back in her ear and chomped on her gum. He could hear her mutter something in Polish as she walked down to the other end of the hall and into her room. She slammed the door behind her.

The guys watching the football game started snickering.

"Children are so pleasant." Jack Estrada said chuckling.

"Craig, where's Meghan? I saw her door was closed."  
"She's either swimming or lifting. If I were a betting man I'd say she's swimming."

Mike gave a wave goodbye and left. He walked through the drizzling rain to the rec center. He looked through one of the windows overlooking the pool. Just like Craig had said, there was Meghan doing the butterfly stroke in their Olympic sized pool. He watched her massive tattoo sleeved arms propel her through the water. He entered the facility and walked down to Meghan's swim lane and crouched at the end of the pool waiting for her to come to him. Meghan noticed Mike crouched above her and stopped. She pulled her googles off her eyes.

"Hey Mike! What's up?"

"Hey Meg, Six wants you in her office."

Meghan took off swim cap revealing her long blonde hair. She took a swig of water.

"Alrighty, help me out and I'll be right over." She said reaching her hand toward him.

Mike took her hand lifted her out of the pool. Meghan was so light Mike could have lifted her with his pinkie. Despite her menacing amount of muscle mass, she was one of the lightest operator in all of Rainbow weighing in at 134lbs next Yumiko, Rainbow Japanese offensive operator. Weight gain was something Meghan always struggled with as a Navy Seal. The navy always listed her as 'underweight' in physicals.

"Thank you!" She said as she wrapped a towel around herself and headed to the locker room.

"Hey, any chance you know where Dominic is?" Mike asked as she walked away.

"Gym!" She yelled as she entered the women's locker room.

Mike crossed the hallway of the rec center to the gym. The gym smelled of sweat. Loud music blared from one corner. Eliza Cohen was lifting 45lb dumbbells by one of the mirrors. There were dark circles underneath her bright green eyes. Mike noticed Eliza has been pushing herself harder than usual since her return from Truth or Consequences. This was normally a sign that something was bothering her. Mike's friend and fellow SAS teammate Seamus was on a bench press machine. He nodded to him as he walked past. He winked back at him. He noticed something odd about the gym. All the operators working out had confined themselves to one side of the gym. He looked around the room and noticed the Brazilian operator, Tiana Pereira was on the other side of the room meditating and doing yoga while listening to music through her headphones. No wonder everyone was on one side of the room. Tiana didn't like being bothered by anyone and most of the operators preferred keeping their distance from documented sociopaths. Mike was surprised to see her in public. He, nor anyone else has ever seen Tiana out in public like this. Only time they ever her was in training and missions. She looked different without her face paint. Her face was charming without it. It was almost weird seeing her dressed normal for once.

A mixed martial arts ring stood in the middle of the gym. Dominic and Monika were squaring off in the ring. Their GSG-9 teammates Marius and Elias watched from the outside. Mike stood next to him them and watched the ensuing fight.

"What's all this about?" Mike asked.

"Dominic made a bet with Monika that if he could beat her in a fight she'd have had to go out to dinner with him." Marius said.

"Dominic, the village idiot, vs the young banta weight MMA champion Monika Weiss? I have to watch this."

Elias chuckled at Mike's statement.

"Alright Monika! Show me what you got!" Dominic said putting his mouth piece in.

"Dominic this is your last chance to back out. I'm warning you this is going to end badly for you." Monika said loosening up her muscles.

"Give it your best shot woman!" He said.

The fight only lasted 10 seconds.

In the blink of an eye Monika had Dominic in an armbar.

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I YIELD I YIELD I YIELD!" Dominic screamed tapping her arm.

Mike, Marius, and Elias busted out laughing.

Monika released Dominic's arm and helped him up.

"Better luck last time. If you need your ass kicked again just give me a shout." Monika said giving Dominic a pat on the back as she exited the ring.

"Monika, you can beat me up any time." Dominic said winking at her.

Monika gave him a death stare and made her way to the exit of the gym.

"We should let her beat your ass next." Monika said before walking out.

Dominic looked around trying to figure out who she was talking about.

"Who are you talking about? Marius… GAAAH!" Dominic said recoiling back to see Tiana standing next him. Mike and the rest of the guys laughed at his reaction and backed away slowly from the Brazilian woman to be safe.

Tiana just stared at them with narrow eyes.

Everyone abruptly stopped laughing. They exchanged nervous glances at each other and at Tiana. Tiana stared back at them. The staring began to get awkward.

Once Tiana figured she won the staring contest she hastily left the gym bumping shoulders with Dominic as she left.

The guys waited for her to get out of ear shot before speaking.

"Did anyone hear her sneak up on us?" Mike asked.

"And that's why we call her, 'Spook Bitch.'" Elias said as he watched her leave. Tiana's footsteps didn't make a sound as she walked. It gave Elias goosebumps.

"And I thought I was lacking with reading social cues." Marius said running his hand through his blonde hair keeping an eye on Tiana as well.

"Am I the only one who was turned on by that?" Dominic asked. Elias facepalmed. Marius looked at him trying to figure out if he was being serious.

Mike chuckled at their comments. He reached out his arm and helped Dominic out of the ring.

"Dominic, now that you're done getting your ass whooped, Six wants you in her office."

"Yeah I'll be right there." He said massaging his arm and walked to the exit.

Mike followed him and made his way to Six's office.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Mike walked through the evening drizzle to Six's office. Recruits walked past and saluted him as he went. He walked past the mess hall and noticed some of his friends eating. He wanted to say hello, but he'd catch up with them later. He entered an old brick building and walked up the stairs to the top floor. He could hear voices down the hallway. Mike found Six's office and knocked.

"Enter."

Mike walked in. Dominic, Meghan, and Jordan sat in chairs in front of Six's desk. Ela was nowhere to found.

"Where's Elizabetha?" Six asked impatiently glancing at her watch.

"I told her to come to your office." Mike said pulling up a chair to her desk.

Ela opened the door to Six's office. Everyone to turn and look at her.

"Take the scenic route?" Six asked as Ela hastily pulled up a chair.

"Sorry I'm late director. Got caught up taking care of a few things."

"Save it for another time. I have some important things to discuss with you 5. CIA has requested operators from our team for an op." Six said taking a pile of packets off her desk and passed them around to her operators. The operators began to leaf through the packet. The packet contained information about their mission. Ela got comfortable in her seat and opened the packet. She a key piece of information that made her freeze.

Location: Iraq.

She felt a chill go throughout her body. She closed the packet and placed it on her lap. She stared at the wall in front of her with a thousand-mile stare. Her hands shook.

"No… no, no, no, no. Not again. I can't…." She muttered to herself in a low voice. She could feel the mental breakdown exploding in her body. She turned to her best friend Meghan. Meghan was laughing to herself as she read the location of their op. She felt a pair of eyes looking at her. She turned to Ela and noticed the look of doom on her face. Meghan's smile melted away to a frown. She could already tell this op was going to take a toll on everyone in the room. The two girls saw a lot of horrible things during Orange Sky. Ela struggled hard with PTSD when they returned to the world. She developed an addiction to pills for some time and constantly had mental breakdowns that could be triggered at any time. It wasn't till joining Rainbow Six and reuniting with Meghan that things started to turn around for Ela. Now she was being forced to go back to the place that made her mentally unstable. Meghan looked at Jordan and Mike who were taking things in to.

"Well fuck me. I never thought I'd have to go back to that hell hole again but looks like I was wrong." Jordan said.

"Same here lad." Mike said still reading the packet.

Dominic, who Mike just saw being loud and obnoxious a few minutes ago in the gym was dead quiet. He didn't need words to figure out how he felt about the mission. The last time Dominic was undercover, it didn't go so well for him.

"I understand that none of you want to go back into the fray, but we can't pick and choose the operations we are sent on. We play with the cards that are dealt to us." Six said firmly looking at each of the operators faces. She could see the pain in their faces. The memories coming back to them. There was a moment of silence. Mike broke the silence.

"So, what's the plan?" he said in a low voice.

"An undercover CIA operative working in Baghdad, callsign Vanguard, has revealed that the White Mask are allying with the Islamic State. The two have been striking military targets across the country as allies. They've killed hundreds of soldiers already and they won't stop until the allied nations are forced out of the country. Since Rainbow has been the one leading the charge in hunting down the White Mask, the CIA has requested we send 5 operatives from Rainbow to takeout the White Mask superior leading in that area and collect any intel on the group that we can get. When you arrive in Baghdad you will meet up with Vanguard and he'll guide you through the rest. Work your way through the country and take out as many White Masks and Islamic State targets as you can while gathering intel about the group. Kill their leader. Maintain a low profile. We can't let the enemy know there's a hunter killer group searching for them. Not even the U.S. military or any other allied nations working in country will know about you. Do not reveal your identities to anyone. Not the military, not the locals, no one. Only to each other and Vanguard. Do whatever means necessary to find and kill the bastards. No one knows of your existence so technically no rules of engagements or rules of war. However, if you are captured, no one will be there to save you. Each of you have experience in country and have experience in undercover operations. You all have one month to prepare. I have no doubt that you will be able to complete this mission."

Dominic didn't need to be reminded about the consequences of being caught breaking the law while undercover. The thoughts of his time in federal prison still haunt him to this day.

"Six, what do we know about Vanguard?" Dominic asked.

"There's not much we do know about him except that he's been undercover in Baghdad for about 4 years. He's been the United States top informant on the Islamic State's activities. The rest is covered in black ink."

"So how are we going to find this guy?"

"He's going to find you. He's already aware of when and where you will be arriving."

"Wow, because that's not shady or anything. How the hell are we supposed to trust his guy?" Dominic complained.

"Mike and I have no experience in undercover operations? I get that we have experience in country, but why are we being sent?" Jordan asked.

"You'll be support and guidance for Dominic, Elizabetha, and Meghan. Help them anyway you can."

"How long will we be in country?" Meghan asked.

"I can't say for sure how long. It depends on how fast you're able to gather intel and take out the leader."

Meghan looked down at her sneakers. She didn't like the sound of this. There was no telling how long they'd be overseas. They could be stuck in Iraq for weeks. Months. Years maybe. What if the White Mask attack in a different country while they were still in Iraq? The questions and answers between Six and the operators went on for another few hours before Ela stood up slowly from her seat and abruptly left the office. Six watched with a quizzical look as she left.

"That's all for now. Try and take this all in. We'll debrief again soon. Dismissed." Six said moments later.

The operators rose from their seats and left the office. Mike, Jordan, and Dominic walked to the mess hall to talk about their mission.

"Meghan, grub?" Mike asked motioning toward the mess hall.

"I'll be there in a few but don't wait for me." She replied not really paying any attention to them. Meghan jogged after Ela, but she was already in her dorm. Meghan knocked on Ela's door and twisted the door knob. It was unlocked.

"Hey its me. I'm coming in." she said opening the door slowly.

Ela was sitting on her bed reading from a small pocket-sized book. A small carboard box laid next to her. There were tears in her eyes. Meghan took her shoes off by the door and sat next to Ela and wrapped her arms around her. She looked at what Ela was reading. There was a map drawn by hand on one page. All the words were in Polish and the picture looked like it was done by an artist. On the right side of the page there was a picture of a face. Meghan took a closer look and realized it was her. The memories of that day came rushing back. During Operation Orange Sky, Meghan and Ela were mapping out an area to launch an ambush and Ela must have gotten bored after finishing the map of the area so she drew the portrait of her. Meghan forgot Ela went lived in Berlin for some time to become an artist. She hasn't drawn anything since Orange Sky ended.

"We can't go back." Ela said softly.

"I know you don't want to go back. I don't either, but it's our job. People are depending on us."

"But all the hardships we faced. The things we saw. The amount of times we almost died. We're going to relieve that again."

"Liz, you're gonna be fine. This time it's going to be different. I have your back just like last time and there will be 3 other operators out with us watching out for us. Trust me. Everything is going to be okay. I'm here for you."  
Valkyrie understood her feelings. She wished there were things she could make her eyes unsee when she was deployed. Things that messed her up for a long time and left her in a bad mental state when she returned stateside. Some of those things still haunt her to this day. But those were the burdens of being a soldier. As Stephan Crane once sarcastically wrote, "war is kind." But whether it was supporting each other after breakups with boyfriends to being shot at by terrorists in the Middle East, the two always looked out for one another. They shared an unbreakable bond by simply trying to survive and deliver those from evil.

The two operators sat with each other in silence. They listened to the sound of the rain pelting off Ela's window pane.

Dominic sat in the mess hall by himself spinning a spoon in a cup of tea lost in thought. It was after hours now so the mess hall was empty. The tapping of the rain on the tin roof was soothing to him. The moon's shined behind the cloud layer giving them a light gray appearance. He listened to the darker side of conscious speak to him.

" _Undercover?"_

" _You can't go undercover again! Remember what happened last time you went undercover! You went to federal prison!"_

" _You joined Rainbow to get out of undercover work!"_

" _Remember all the people you killed? The drugs? The lies? The innocent people you hurt? The heartbreak?"_

" _You've never been into a warzone. You don't understand what war is truly like."_

" _You'll only let your team down. You're a burden."_

" _The nightmares and bad memories will never go away. They're here to stay. I'm here to stay. You'll never get rid of me. You'll always feel pain. Always. So get used to it."_

"Shut up. Just shut up." He begged to himself.

Dominic cradled his head in hands trying to silence the voice. The memories of his time undercover with the Hell's Angels danced in his head. His time in federal prison. He felt a hand on his shoulder that made him jump. It was Ryad, one of Rainbow's Spanish GEO operators. Ryad took a seat across the table from Dominic and took a sip from a cup of tea he had brought with him.

"What are you doing up so late?" Ryad asked with a smile.

"Not tired. Mind has been racing all day." Dominic said depressingly. He looked up at Ryad quizzically.

"Why are you awake?" He asked.

"Insomnia."

"Oh yeah, that's right."

Dominic looked back down at his cup of tea. For as long as Ryad has been in Rainbow he never actually had a one on one conversation with him. All he knew about Ryad was he was Spanish GEO, he had insomnia because of his brother's death, and his gadget was a bitch to fight against in training.

"What's on your mind?" Ryad asked trying to move the conversation along.

"Me along with 5 others are being deployed in a month."

"Where are you being deployed?"

"Iraq."

"Well that's not so bad. We've done ops in worse places."

"Six is forcing me to go back undercover."

Ryad looked down at his cup of tea and stirred it slowly. The news explained why he was so upset. He tried to find words that would make Dominic feel better.

"Dominic, listen, I know your experience in undercover work was really bad but Six chose you because she sees something in you. The other 4 are going to need you out there. You have so much experience in that line of work and you're really good at it."

"I'm just afraid I'll end up in prison or someone else will get captured and sent to prison. I missed out on so much of my life. I did horrible things to other people. I stood and watched people do horrible things to each other. All that time wasted to cover my government's ass."

Unfortunately for Ryad, there was nothing he could really say. He chose to remain silent.

"I've also never been to a war zone before. I know nothing about Iraq or the Middle East."

"Read about it. Ask around. There's plenty of operator here that have been overseas Dominic. No one is going to let you fail Dominic. You're going to be okay. Now why don't you get to bed."

And with that Jackal rose from his seat, gave Dominic a pat on the back and walked away leaving Bandit back to his thoughts. Bandit threw his cup of tea in the garbage and walked back to his dorm.


	4. Chapter 4

* I apologize for the huge delay I don't have a set writing schedule and my job has been a little crazy. As always, thanks for reading! Let me know what you think of the story so far and if you have any ideas you'd like to have in the next chapter as our operators begin their undercover operation. *

 **Chapter 4**

The operators didn't know what was worse, receiving the news of being deployed, or the month of waiting and preparing till they got deployed. Throughout the weeks, Six, the CIA, and the 5 operators coordinated training every day to refamiliarize the operators with the line of work and the location. Some of the training included lessons in Arabic, geography, undercover strategies and tactics, culture and anything about the enemy they were going to face. The operators lived in a cocoon of stress every second of the day with barely any free time for release. When Mike finally had time to breath he built up the courage to call his wife and tell her the news of his deployment. He already knew she wasn't going to happy about it so he'd been procrastinating talking to her. He sat his desk waiting patiently for his wife to pick up the phone. He tried to put his words together to explain his situation. He wheeled his chair around and stared out the window behind his desk. It was midday and the rain had finally seized. Mike's view of the base from his office wasn't as good as Six's but whenever he started to daydream he found himself looking out the window.

"Hello?" A man answered. Mike immediately recognized the voice.

"Hey son." He said glad to hear his son's voice.

"Hey dad. Got a break from saving the world huh?" He said teasing him. It's been a little while since they last talked.

"Yeah something like that." Mike said chuckling.

"Is everything okay?"

"Everything is fine. I just need to talk to your mum. Is she around?"

"Yeah she's in the kitchen. You want me to get her?"

"Well we can talk for a couple minutes." He said trying to find courage to tell his son the news.

"Uh, alright. Well how's work?"

"Busy son. Very busy. Uhhh…. How's university treating you?"

"Its good. I have all A's and one B. One professor has been giving me a hard time, but I think I'll live."

"Don't let your grades slip now boy. If you ever want to get into the SAS, you have to aim high."

"I know dad I know. You don't have to remind me."

His son wanted to follow in his father's footsteps and become an SAS operator. Mike wanted to push him through college first to get his degree before he signed up for the military.

"I'm your father Sam, its my job to nag you."

His son laughed. He heard a woman's voice in the background ask who his son was talking to.

"Hey mum is here. I'm gonna put her on. I'll see you soon dad."

"Yeah bud I'll see you soon. I love you." His voice said faltering.

"I love you too dad."

He kicked himself for not telling his son the news.

A woman's voice came on.

"Hello?"

"Hey babe its me."

"Hey you."

"Keeping Sam in line over there."

"When he's home yes. I can't control the trouble he gets into at school." She said laughing.

"Hey, I have something to tell you. It's about work."

"What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine… its just…." He paused, took a deep breath, and found his words.

"Lily, I'm being deployed."

There was silence on the other end of the phone.

"Lily?"

Lily rapid fired a million questions at him. She couldn't believe the news.

"What? What do you mean? For how long?" Her voice said shakily.

"What?"

"How long are you going to be over there Mike? How much more time do you want to spend away from us?"

"Honey this isn't my fault. I don't pick and choose where Rai… I mean England sends me."

"HOW FUCKING LONG MIKE?!"

His wife and son had no idea he was apart of Rainbow Six since the unit was classified. They still think he's stationed at an SAS base.

"I don't know."

He could hear her start to cry on the other end of the phone.

"Mike, you've had so many chances to get out, yet you still stay. You're 56 years old! You've missed so much on life because of work. When will this ever end?"

Mike lowered his head in shame. He began to feel a pit in his stomach.

"What am I supposed to tell Sam?" She asked with a twinge of frustration.

"The truth."

"Are you even mentally ready? All the horrible things you've seen? You're just welcoming it back with open arms? Your past fucked you up for a long time. It put a lot of strain on our family. You want to go through that again?"

"Sweetie… let me expl…"

His wife didn't want to hear his bullshit sob story.

"No Mike. Just go. You know I love you. I support you. Never forget that." She said firmly.

The old 56-year-old special forces war veteran closed his eyes fighting tears. He took a breath.

"I know. I love you too." He said shakily.

"You come home to me. Do you understand? Come back to me. Come back to your son. We miss you. Come home Mike. Put an end to this. Be with your family."

"I will honey. I will. I have to go. I don't know when I'll be able to talk again but I'll call you as soon as possible."

"Promise me you'll come back."

"Honey…"

"Promise me."

There was moment of hesitation before he spoke.

"I promise."

"I love you."

"I love you too. Tell Sam I love him too."

"I will."

There was a click on the other end and then the dial tone.

Mike sat in office holding back the wave of emotions. He stared at a photograph of his family that he kept on his desk. He picked it up and stared at his wife and son in the picture. Soldiers have a very basic rule: never make promises in combat. He just broke that basic rule. There was a crackle of thunder in the distance. He turned and looked out his window. It was starting to rain again.

…

Meghan sat on an examination table in a cold and white colored room. There were posters and signs about medical related facts. A counter stood across the room with medical supplies on it. Six had requested all the operators get a pre-deployment physical to make sure the operators were in good health before they were deployed to harsh environment of Iraq. Meghan had just gotten off the phone with her dad telling him she was going to be away for a while. She had to keep the conversation extremely vague because the mission was classified. The conversation left her feeling hallow inside. She was very close with her father and it broke his heart to hear that he wouldn't be able to talk to her daughter for a while, but he understood her situation.

A doctor entered the room wearing teal colored scrubs and a lab coat. She carried a clipboard and a big folder with Meghan's name on it. She had a long and ugly scar going diagonally across the middle of her face. She smiled when she saw Meghan.

"Dr. Mel, how are you?" Meghan said embracing her friend trying to act cheerful. Dr. Lera Melnikova was the new Spetsnaz/CBRN operator and doctor to join Rainbow Six during Operation Chimera. She and her CBRN counterpart Olivier played a major role in their victory at Truth or Consequences. Meghan became friends and workout buddies with her after she had joined the team.

"I'm doing well Meg how about yourself?" She said with a heavy Russian accent.

"You know, same old same old." Meghan shrugged.

"So, Six has me informed that you have been chosen for an undercover op in Iraq." She said reading through her medical record and paperwork.

Meghan frowned at the statement. Lera looked up from her paper work at her troubled friend.

"You don't sound very excited about it."

"Yeah…" Her voice trailed off and she looked down at her feet dangling from the table.

"I understand how you feel Meg. You know I'm here for you. This is your friend Lera talking, not robot Dr. Melnikova."

"I'll be fine. But thank you." She said sounding slightly defensive. She didn't like being opening up her feelings too often. SEAL training had taught well about controlling her emotions.

"Alright well let's not stand on ceremony here Miss. Castello."

Lera made Meghan remove some of her clothes to conduct the physical. Meghan took off her blue t shirt revealing nasty scars all over her muscular figure. Some looked years old while others looked new. There were also other bumps and bruises on her body too. All the marks a testament to the years of abuse Meghan has endured from the SEALs and Rainbow. Each mark and scar had its own story. Lera ran through her physical making sure her body was in good health as well as giving her shots to protect her from any diseases she could be exposed to in Iraq. With the physical she took Meghan's weight. Meghan stepped on the scale and looked down at the number. It blinked '129.9.' She looked at Lera confused.

"Jesus Meghan. You're severely underweight compared to your medical records in the past." Lera said harshly.

Meghan remained silent.

"I know why you're underweight, Meghan. For the past few weeks now since you've been assigned to this mission you've been living in the gym working out till you puke and then some. I've seen you do it and so have the other operators. Are you even feeding yourself? What you're doing is not healthy. How do you expect to be combat ready like this?" Lera said coldly.

"What I do is none of your business Lera. I need to be in top physical condition for this mission. I can't let my team down. There's a lot riding on this." She fired back.

"Hey, I'm not trying to be an asshole. I want to help you. Clearly this mission is bothering you. It's not like you to act this way. You should talk to someone before you end up hurting yourself."

"Lera, every time you work out with Monika and I you finish the day heaving in a trash can too. Don't be a hypocrite. You think I'm becoming a sociopath like Tiana that you think I need a shrink? I'll feel a lot better once this mission is over with." Meghan said with sarcasm.

Lera stared at Meghan with narrow eyes. Meghan was right. She was being a hypocrite, but it was her job to point something like that out to her.

Meghan stepped off the scale.

"Let's just get this done with." She said bumping shoulders with Lera as she walked away.

Lera took an x-ray of Meghan's arm that she broke when she was in high school. Meghan had gotten surgery to have screws inserted to help support the bone break in her arm. She wanted to make sure it was still in good shape. Meghan also had blood work done up. When the x-ray was done they returned to the examination room and looked at the x-ray together.

"Everything is right where it should be." Lera said pointing to the screws in her arm. Meghan looked down at the big scar on her tattooed arm from the surgery she had gotten for the bone break and then back at the x-ray picture.

"Looks good to me. Are we done here?" She asked impatiently.

"Yes."

Meghan put her clothes back on and walked for the door.

"Meghan. Wait." Lera said writing some notes in her file.

Meghan stopped at the door.

"What?"

"If you need anything. Anything at all. Come and find me."

"I'll keep that in mind." She said and walked out the door leaving Lera alone in the room. Lera scribbled down some last-minute notes and left the room.

…

Ela walked through the cold rain back to her apartment. She could feel the temperature drop as the hidden sun hiding behind the cloud barrier began to set. Her baseball hat sat low over eyes. Soldiers waved hello to her as she walked past them. She ignored them kept walking. Ela had been spending her time trying to reacquaint herself with Arabic. She would be the team's translator since she knew the language better than the other operators on the mission. She climbed the stairs to her floor. She was happy to take a break from practicing. As she walked through the door to her hallway she watched Timur Glazkov walk out with an easel. He made his way upstairs to the floors above where the operators lived. Ela went to continue to her room, but her nosiness got the best of her and she turned around and snuck up the stairs following Timur. Timur sat in a chair beneath a tin canopy on the roof of the dorm. The base was lit up in bright lights. The rain continued to fall steadily with the sound of thunder booming in the distance. Parts of the clouds lit up occasionally from lightning strikes over country side surrounding the base. Glaz stared at the grey landscape as if he was in a trance. His pencil began to move swiftly across his easel sketching what he saw before him while his eyes stayed trained on the landscape. He didn't look at the easel once while drawing. Ela sat at the doorway watching silently as a picture began to form on the paper before him. His hand abruptly stopped.

"Elizabetha, can I help you with something?" He said without turning toward her and sounding very annoyed.

 _Seriously Elizabetha? Of all times of the day, you choose to waste my time when I'm about to draw?_ His anger spoke in his head.

Timur's nonchalant reaction to her presence took Ela off guard. How did he know she was behind him? She didn't make any noise when she followed him.

"Oh… um… uh… sorry Timur. I saw you walk upstairs and I followed you. Just wanted to see what you were up to." She said timidly.

"Is there any reason why you're snooping on other operators?"

"How did you even know I was sneaking up behind you?"

"I have developed a 6th sense for that kind of thing. Get interrogated from a late flanking Tiana enough times and you'd understand."

Despite the Russian wanting to be left alone, Ela stayed put.

"Elizabetha, if you have nothing else to say, please leave." He said with a dark tone.

Ela continued to stand in silence by the doorway. She studied Timur's drawing. Despite the two being artists, Timur and Elizabetha never got along with each other as operators. Timur thought of her as a reckless and delusional operator who lacked patience. The only times Timur and Ela ever had any interactions with each other was when Timur was squeezing the trigger on his OTS sniper rifle zeroed in on Ela's skull from a distance or when Ela was mowing Timur down with her SMG all in their team's training simulations. Ela went and took a seat next to Timur to get a better look at his drawing. Ela had never talked to Timur about art. All Ela was looking for was a friend; especially during such troubling times in her life with her deployment. She thought maybe art could help improve their relationship with each other.

"That isn't leaving." He said white knuckling his pencil as his frustration with Ela built.

"How do you find inspiration to draw with such a barren and dull landscape?" She asked.

Timur sighed at the fact that Ela wasn't going to leave him alone.

 _Patience Glazkov._ His mind told him.

He placed his pencil down and moved his easel to the side.

"What makes you say that?" He asked watching the landscape in front of him.

"Well the rain, the boring British landscape, and greyness seems lackluster and ugly. I've seen your artwork before. Your paintings are of beautiful, vibrant colored landscapes. This environment lacks beauty and color."

"Quite the contrary." He said leaning back in his chair still admiring the landscape. "Everything has beauty within. Just because there's no vibrant landscape or bright colors doesn't mean it's not beautiful. There is beauty in everything we see. You just have to take the blinders off your eyes and see the big picture."

Ela sat lost in thought as she looked out toward the landscape. Thunder boomed in the distance.

Ela took off her hat and pulled a pin out of her hair letting it fall. She ran her one hand through her hair. The gesture caught Timur's eyes.

Ela's hair wasn't bright green and short anymore. It was long flowing past her shoulders and it was dark brown. Her natural hair color. She must have removed the dye out of her hair and let it grow over the past month. Timur could see the resemblance between Elizabetha and Zofia as sisters. She looked beautiful, but he felt something was off with her mood. He assumed it was the mission she was being forced on. Six had informed the operators with the little information she could tell them of their deployment back to Iraq and she encouraged all the operators to help them any way they could in preparing.

Timur picked up his pencil and handed it to her.

"What's this?" She asked taking the pencil.

"Draw." He said pushing the easel toward her.

"Timur I haven't drawn anything in years…"

"Find the beauty within this landscape that you find boring. You might be surprised by what your mind sees. Maybe drawing will take your mind off things." He said forcing a smile.

Ela positioned the easel in front of her. She held the pencil in her hand and took in the landscape trying to find its inner beauty. A streak of lightning stretched across the sky in the distance over some hills. Ela memorized the second in time of the lightning flash and began to draw. While Timur watched her draw he discreetly pulled a small sketch book from a bag. He flipped to a blank page and pulled out another pencil. He began to sketch a picture of Ela in her natural look drawing her work of art. He wasn't sure when he'd ever see her wear her hair like this again, so he took advantage of the moment.

After about 2 and half hours the two artists had finished their art pieces. Timur turned his little sketch book over hiding his picture and looked at Ela's drawing. He was impressed by her drawing ability despite not drawing for a couple of years. He could see the emotional stress she had been feeling in her pencil strokes. Her picture depicted Hereford Base with a bright bolt of lightning over flashing over the base. The light from the lightning bolt shining brighter than the lights on base. It was very well done.

"Impressive." He said removing her picture from the easel.

He rolled the picture up and handed it to her. She took the picture from the sniper.

"Thank you." She said smiling.

"You really need to work on your stress management Elizabetha. Look at your strokes." He said unrolling her drawing. He pointed to some of the pencil marks. "Marks like these are not relaxed strokes. These are aggressive. Your facial expressions also gave away your sour mood."

Ela broke eye contact with the sniper's icy blue eyes. With eyes like Timur's she felt as if he was looking into her soul.

"Going back to Iraq has really been stressing me out Glazkov. I thought I'd never have to go back to such a horrible place but clearly, I was wrong. The drawing really helped me today. I thank you for that." She said humbly.

"Ela why haven't you talked with anyone about how you feel? Letting your emotions eat away at you is very unhealthy."

"I know. It's just a sore subject for me, that's all."

"You should try talking to your sister or someone in the family. Some good family time never hurt anyone." He said trying to help her.

If looks could kill Timur would be dead right where he stood.

Ela face changed from feeling relaxed to pure hatred.

Timur realized his mistake when he put the name 'Zofia' and 'family time' in the same sentence while talking to Ela.

 _Nice one Glazkov. Do you realize who you're trying to lecture on family? Way to fuck up._ His conscience said mockingly.

"You wanna know what my sister is good for?" Ela asked.

Timur didn't answer.

"Being target practice during simulation training." She said with an evil tone to her voice.

Timur tried to rebound from his idiocrasy. He was never good with talking to females. Especially crazy ones. Especially the ones that took pleasure in shooting their older sister in virtual reality.

"Then talk about how you feel through your art. Lots of great artists used art to explain how they feel. Clearly you still enjoy art and you have talent in it. If talking about things is difficult for you or you find yourself in a bad mood, then maybe try painting it. The easel and paint brush won't judge your thoughts."

She nodded in agreement. Of all people, she never thought she'd receive words of wisdom from Timur Glazkov. The thought returned a smile to her face.

Ela got up, tied her hair into a pony tail and put her hat back on. She took her picture and signed her name on the lower right corner of the drawing. She placed her drawing in Timur's lap and gave him a peck on the cheek.

"Thanks for cheering me up. It was sweet of you." She said and left Timur to his lonesome. Her soft footsteps echoed down the stairwell until they were drowned out by the sound of rain pelting the tin canopy above him and thunder.

Timur opened his pocket sketch book and leafed through the pages. He had captured the operators completing various missions to living their everyday lives in his sketches. Even though he normally kept to himself, he took interest in capturing specific moments of time with his fellow operators. He continued to flip through the book until he made it to his sketch of Ela. Her eyes in the sketch showed hurt and pain as she drew her picture. Strands of her brown hair flowed with the cold breeze. He exhaled and closed the book. He looked at Ela's drawing before rolling it back up again. He began to gather his art supplies. That was enough drawing for tonight.

…

"You going to be okay with the added responsibilities while I'm away?" Jordan Trace asked as he worked on his brimstone charge in the chemistry lab. The timer had been getting finicky in sandy environments causing it to take longer to detonate.

"Yes, Jordan I'll be fine." Yumiko Imagawa said rolling her eyes as she watched him work. Yumiko was Rainbow's secondary hard breaching specialist but instead of creating 'a big fucking hole' with a breaching charge she creates small precise holes in reinforced material from a distance with a special launcher and specials pellets she called X-KARIOS. Without Jordan's expertise, Yumiko's gadget would never have been possible, and she wouldn't know half the tactics of a hard-breaching specialist that she knows now.

"Good." He said stuffing an armful of brimstones into a special case. He removed his lab coat and Yumiko handed him his Carhart jacket.

"Hey Jordan, is there any way we can make my X-KARIOS detonate faster?"

"Why do you want that?"

"Bandit."

"Bandit? You mean Dominic?"

"Yeah, whatever his name is. You've seen that new strategy he's been doing with his batteries where he waits for you to place your charge on a reinforced wall and then as soon as you prime your charge he places his battery down which destroys the charge?"

Jordan chuckled at the thought. Dominic's batteries drove Jordan nuts in training. Jordan was able to outsmart Dominic's cheeky strategy by placing his charge and detonating it in unison with several of Mike's EMP grenades thus negating Dominic's batteries when he placed them. Jordan fondly remembered the first time he tried the counter to Dominic's strat with Mike and how he blew Dominic to smithereens in the training session because he was on the other end of his brimstone panicking as he watched his batteries fail due to the fury of EMP grenades thrown at the opposite side of the wall. Elias had a front row seat to Bandit's catastrophe as the point man and couldn't stop laughing from behind his shield after what he witnessed.

"Yeah I know what you're talking about. Mike and I call it the, 'Bandit Trick.' It's not a solid strategy. If you deploy your breaching device in unison with Mike's EMP grenades you can get around it."

"But that's my problem. My KARIOS aren't exploding quick enough after Mike has exhausted his EMP grenades, so his battery eventually destroys my charges before they explode. Mike and I have been practicing getting the breach correct but we can't seem to figure it out. I figured if we shortened the time to detonation, then I'd have a chance."

"Well unfortunately we can't do that. If we shorten the time to detonation, then your KARIOS won't have enough time to cut the hole in the reinforced metal. If you prematurely detonate your charges before it has cut a hold completely through the reinforced material, you run the risk of injuring your team. Even if we did somehow find a way to make something like that work, the German Looney Toon, the old man, and I won't be around to test it out. We'll have to look into that when I get back."

"How long are you going to be?"

"I have no idea. But I have a bad feeling about this mission for some reason."

Jordan locked the door to the lab and started walking back to the dorms with Yumiko.

"What makes you say that?"

"The details are sketchy as fuck. Its classified though. Sorry."

"I see."

Yumiko walked with Jordan back to their dorms in silence.

Jordan gave her a confident smile despite the depressing details.

"I think we'll be fine though. I got good people going with me."

Yumiko gave him a weak smile. She could see through his bullshit. When Jordan had a bad feeling about something, it was normally best to take it seriously.

Yumiko made it to her dorm with Jordan. Jordan wished her goodnight and made his way back to his dorm. Jordan began to go through his pre-sleep routine. Hey took his dose of Prozac and looked at himself in the mirror. He scratched his fully-grown beard that he let grow out for the mission. He thought he looked like Craig if he were an Irishman. Jordan crawled into his bed and as per usual his mind began to race. He saw his old marine unit. His pals. Most of his unit was dead now. He had no idea where the rest of the group was or what they had done with their lives. All he had left to remember him by was his dog tags and a group picture of them underneath the gates to Baghdad.

"Shit man." He whispered to himself.

He rolled over to his side and stared at the picture on his night stand.

"Looks like I'm coming back to you guys." He spoke to the picture.

He rolled back over to his back and stared at the ceiling fan spinning above him. Hopefully he'd get a few hours of sleep before his nightmares would keep him awake.


	5. Part 2 Chapter 5

Part II: Chapter 5

The sun baked through the windows of Baghdad International Airport. People shouted words and aerobic. Vendors lines the walls attempting to sell their goods. A baby could be heard crying in the distance somewhere. Overall, it was usual sounds one would hear at the airport. Nothing out of the ordinary. Iraqi soldiers carrying AK-47s milled around the airport as security. Bandit, Valkyrie, Ela, Thermite and Thatcher weaved through the masses of people keeping their heads low to prevent attracting any attention to themselves. Valkyrie wore black pants with a long blue jacket. She also wore her signature shemagh around her head like a head dress. Strands of her blonde hair peaked out from the front. Ela wore black pants as well with a tan shirt. She also wore a tan shemagh around her head like Valkyrie. Bandit wore almost the exact same clothes he normally wears on missions. He wore black sneakers with his semi ripped jeans and a grey hoodie under his black and yellow striped jacket but there were no GSG 9 patches or insignia on it like there normally was. His beard was long and dirty blonde colored. His hair shaggy. He wore black aviators to partially hide his face. Thermite wore tan khaki pants with a red button down and tan Timberland boots. He, like the rest of the men in the group had a long beard and wore sunglasses. Thatcher was dressed similarly to Thermite, but he wore jeans instead of khakis, black boots, and a black shirt. The urban areas of Iraq have become very westernized over the years. The Iraqi citizens in the city dressed somewhat like how Americans and Europeans dress except the clothes weren't as nice and flashy. As the operators would venture further and further into the Iraqi backcountry, the more traditional dress will start to be seen. They all carried luggage carrying the equipment they would need. The operators stopped in the large open lobby at the front of the airport scanning their surroundings.

"Any sign of Vanguard?" Thermite asked softly as he took a seat on a nearby bench.

"Nein." Bandit said leaning against a wall by Thermite.

Valkyrie took a seat next Thermite.

"Intelligence said Vanguard would know all of our movements in the airport and he'd find us." Valkyries said also in a low voice.

"I say we go outside. Maybe he's out there." Ela said motioning to the front doors.

"Yeah I agree with the lady." Thatcher said squinting his eyes to see what was outside.

"Alright let's do it then." Thermite said getting up from his chair and began to make his way toward the door.

The operators walked outside to a large pick up and drop off area. Buses and cars streamed past the front of building picking up and dropping varieties of people. The air felt hot and smelt foul. The operators began to walk through the crowd sticking together. They took glances at faces in hopes finding Vanguard even though they had no idea what he or she looked like. They continue walking blindly down the sidewalk toward the end which turned to road leading toward the roadway exit of the airport.

"Think Vanguard will be a no show?" Valkyrie asked.

"No." Bandit said and abruptly stopped walking. "He's here. We're being watched. I can feel it." He turned to look for Ela who had been straggling behind the group.

Ela distanced herself from her team to take in the environment. She tried to take Timur's advice and find the beauty in a place she didn't want to be. She suddenly felt an arm wrap around her from behind. Before she could react, she was being hugged by what looked like an Iraqi man. He wore black aviators, a black leather jacket with a white shirt underneath, and blue jeans. His hair was long and slicked back and his beard was well trimmed. He laughed and smiled as he hugged her. Ela tried to pull away, but he wouldn't let go.

She suddenly felt something cold point into her back.

"Don't move." The man said in Arabic.

Ela put on the fakest smile she could. All the civilians were completely oblivious to the man grappling her. It probably looked like a friendly hug from behind by a boyfriend or something.

"Is that a pistol poking my waist or are you just happy to see me?" Ela said in Arabic.

Ela heard the man draw back on the pistol. The man smiled an evil smile.

"Its dangerous for a woman to walk alone in these parts." He said still in Arabic.

Suddenly the man felt an iron grip on his shoulder. The man began to wince in pain.

"Think very carefully about your next move mate." Thatcher said from behind the man strengthening his grip on the man's boney shoulder. Ela was beginning to figure out why Six sent the old man as their muscle.

Bandit walked casually up to Ela and the man flanked by Thermite and Valkyrie to either side of him.

"Vanguard is this how you welcome your guests?" Bandit said sternly.

Valkyrie and Thermite exchanged glances with each other.

 _Is this really Vanguard?_ The thought to themselves.

"So, you're the band of misfits that are supposed to be working with me?" He said in perfect English still wincing in pain from Thatcher's grip.

"I wouldn't say misfits but yes." Bandit shrugged.

Vanguard loosened his grip on Ela. Thatcher did the same to Vanguard.

"Follow me then." He said. He looked around to make sure the coast was clear and proceeded to walk.

Vanguard turned and began to walk toward a parking lot near the airport. He continued to keep a tight grip on Ela. The rest of the operators followed his lead. They walked to blacked out mini van sitting in the middle of the parking lot.

"Get in." He said unlocking the door to the van and releasing Ela.

The operators loaded their gear and piled into the car. Vanguard started to engine and before the operators knew it they were on the open road. The operators sat in silence while Vanguard drove. They had no idea where they were going. Thermite was the first to break the silence.

"You mind telling me what that was all about Vanguard?"

"Insurances."

"What do you mean insurances?" Ela chimed in.

"I needed to make sure you were who you said you were."

"You think we were phonies or something?" Thermite asked.

"Yes. Something like that. The White Mask have undercover operatives who scout out areas to plan attacks. I think I might have compromised myself in one of my missions a few weeks ago but I'm not completely sure. I thought you guys were disguised White Masks looking for me, so I couldn't take any chances."

Thermite gazed out the window pondering the shitty situation they just got thrown into.

"Where are we going?" Valkyrie asked.

"Ramadi."

Valkyrie slumped back in her scene with a sigh. She was all too familiar with Ramadi. She looked over to Ela who was sitting next to her with a grimacing look.

"Why Ramadi?" Valkyrie continued even though she really didn't want to.

"It's one of the few hot beds in country. The United States and the Islamic State with the help of the White Mask have been duking it out in Ramadi for a while now. If we want to find information on the White Masks and how they operate then its best, we start there."

"Sounds good to me." Valkyrie said leaning her head against the window to fall asleep.

Ela sat with her old sketchbook she used from Operation Orange Sky. She flipped to a blank page and began to take in the desert stretched out in front of her. She looked over to Valkyrie who was almost asleep. She began to sketch her sleepy friend with the desert stretched out behind her.

Bandit sat in silence while Thermite and Thatcher made small talk with Vanguard until they arrived at city. It was dusk and city activity was mellow. They could hear the Muslim call to prayer being played from loud speakers around the city. The sound woke up Valkyrie in a cold sweat. The music haunted her mind.

"Jeez Valk relax its just music." Ela said placing a hand on her shoulder trying to calm her down.

"Sorry." She said rubbing her eyes.

"Jesus Christ…" Thatcher said staring out the window at the war-torn city.

Buildings laid in ruins. Few were left standing. Trash and craters littered the streets. The operators thought they saw a body laying in an alley way. The city had a nauseating stench of garbage and death. The hot air tasted sour. US Army soldiers patrolled down some of the streets heavily armed. They heard a Blackhawk helicopter fly overhead.

"As you can see, things are pretty shitty here. We're almost at the safehouse." Vanguard stated as they slowly maneuvered through the streets of the city.

"What's the situation on US activity?" Asked Bandit.

"US military patrol these streets unwelcomed. Army, marines, you know how it is. They think they have a grip on the city, but they are far from it. Most firefights with them are just acts of guerilla warfare and it's starting to wear down on them. I heard that special forces are being deployed to this area to help with holding the city."

 _Special forces? Like Navy SEALs? Rangers?_ Valkyrie pondered her thoughts. Last thing she wanted to do was face her old unit in combat. They were dangerous people and this time they weren't on their side.

The van pulled up to an old brick house surrounded by larger buildings. Some of the windows were boarded up. There was graffiti on one side of the house. The smell of rotting trash was a little bit weaker. Dust blew around the streets. They could hear dogs barking from somewhere in the distance. Night was beginning to fall.

"Welcome to the 5 Seasons." Vanguard said placing the van in park.

The operators piled out of the van with their gear and stared at their new home.

"Not bad. I was expecting worse." Thermite said before heading inside.

The others exchanged looks with each other before going inside. The house was completely run down on the inside. There were holes in some of the floorboards. The paint on the walls was peeling and cobwebs were in some of the corners. There was living room with old sofas, adjacent to it appeared to be a kitchen and a big table. The table was full of maps, photographs, computer, and anything Vanguard was using to carry out his mission. In the corner was a staircase that lead to the upstairs. The upstairs had 2 bedrooms and a bathroom. The quarters were tight, but they didn't have much of a choice for living. The operators began to unpack all their gear and settle in while fighting the jet lag. The girls went to the two rooms upstairs. The men would crash downstairs. After a few hours of unpacking the operators settled in acquainting themselves with the area and tried to get some sleep. Their work would begin in the morning.


	6. Part 2 Chapter 6

Part 2 Chapter 6

Meghan's alarm sounded at 4:30am. She silenced it and rubbed her eyes.

 _Day 1 in paradise._ She told herself.

She untangled herself from her sleeping bag and jumped into her morning routine. She looked at herself in a small shattered mirror. Dark circles were under her eyes. Once Meghan felt she looked somewhat presentable she went downstairs to eat. She shuffled past Jordan, Mike, Dominic, and Vanguard who were awake and eating their MREs.

"Mornin'" she said as she rifled through her rucksack for an MRE. There was no sign of Ela. She assumed she was still sleeping. She felt a box in her rucksack and pulled it out. The box read "oatmeal." She groaned at her bland breakfast choice and made herself a cup of coffee.

"Excuse me, ummm, …" Vanguard snapped his fingers trying to get Meghan's attention. Clearly he'd forgotten her name already.

Valkyrie glanced up at the CIA agent.

"Meghan…" She said completing his sentence.

"Yes! Meghan! Where is your other teammate?" Vanguard asked politely.

"Probably still asleep." Valkyrie said with grogginess still in her voice. She didn't get a good night's sleep.

"Could you be a dear and wake her up? I'd like to get the ball rolling on our briefing." He asked politely.

"Yeah, yeah I got her." She went upstairs and walked into Ela's room. Just as Meghan predicted Ela was bundled up in her sleeping bag past out cold.

"Liz wake up. We have a briefing." Meghan said shaking her.

"One more hour." She muffled and rolled over ignoring her order.

"Don't make me drag your ass out of bed." Meghan said losing her patience. She never would have thought one of the most lethal defensive operators of Rainbow Six could act like such a child.

"Bet." She said testing the little patience her friend had left.

That was all it took. Meghan grabbed a fist full of Ela's sleeping bag and dragged her out of her room down the stairs. Ela was one of the lighter operators on the team, so it took her no effort at all to drag her. Ela cursed her out in Polish as her body clunked down each step. She placed Ela down in a heap in front of the guys. Vanguard stared at Meghan wide eyed. Dominic and Jordan almost choked on their food from laughing so hard.

"I see day 1 of our mission is going rather smoothly" Mike said face palming.

"Mike are those two always like this?" Vanguard asked concerned.

"Eh sometimes. More Elizabetha than Meghan."

"Wonderful. Now that everyone is here, let's begin."

After some quick introductions of each other, the briefing consisted of Vanguard's experience in country so far, and the intel he's collected and what he knew so far about the White Mask. Vanguard went by the name of Miles Almasi. He was born in Baghdad and moved to the United States. Miles also discussed different aspects of Ramadi like the geography, streets, no go zones, U.S. military strongholds, tactics, patrol patterns, operator roles, and the hot beds for enemy activity.

"I've heard through the grape vine that there's a chance for a possible attack on the town market. It's a major social hub for the city that keeps everyone interconnected with each other. I'm not sure when this attack will be carried, but apparently it's soon." He said with a serious vibe.

The operators took notes as he spoke.

"Where did you receive this intel from?" Jordan asked.

"A bar in Baghdad. Members from the IS love to go to it. The IS and the White Mask have been focusing more and more of their efforts on Ramadi which is why I relocated here. This attack on the market is apparently going to be pretty big."

"Is the source reliable?" Ela asked.

"Yes."

"So, what does this attack on the town market have to do with us?" Mike asked.

"We try capturing one of the IS members during the attack. Interrogate him for information. Find out who the White Mask is overseeing in the Ramadi sector. Interrogate the White Mask. Work our way up the food chain to the head honcho."

"Okay. But we have no idea when they're carrying out the attack. That's if there even is an attack. I don't think your sources are as reliable as you think." Dominic said.

"That's why we'll recon the market. Keep an eye out. The attack we'll carried out in the day time. They need to conduct their attacks during the day because that's when there's the most amount of town activity. They try to send a message with each attack."

"If you can take me to the market I can set up my Black Eye cameras in various locations around the market. It'll be easier to keep tabs on the area." Valkyrie said handing him one of her Black Eye cameras.

"Jordan and I can scout the area for an overwatch position." Mike chimed in.

"Elizabetha and I can do patrol the market once Valkyrie's cameras are in position." Dominic said.

"Alright, then its decided. Let's get to work. Jordan and Mike, I'm sure there's rooftop access down the block. You should be able to walk along the rooftops all the way to the market." Miles said.

"Then that's what we'll do." Jordan said as he rose to get his gear assembled.

"Everyone load up. We're going for a walk. Meeting adjourned." Dominic said.

Meghan changed into her blue t shirt, OCP pants, and OCP vest. She tied her shemagh around her head like a hijab and put her Oakley sunglasses on top of her head. She reached into her rucksack and unfolded her MPX submachine gun. She inspected her weapon and filled her magazines. She took her Desert Eagle pistol and put it in her thigh holster. Meghan added her final touch to her look. She took black eye paint and spread it just below her eyes to protect them from the sunlight like a baseball player would. She took a robe that an Iraqi woman would typically wear and wore it over top her gear. Her folded MPX swung from her vest.

Miles came out in tan military pants, an olive drab shirt with a tan tactical vest, tan boots, and sunglasses. He carried a folded up FMG 9 like he was carrying a brief case and a Sig Sauer pistol on his hip. He also wore traditional robes over his gear.

Jordan wore light blue tactical pants, tan work boots, a grey jacket, a green shemagh around his neck, black baseball hat, black tactical vest and sunglasses. His red bag full breaching equipment swung loosely around his shoulder. He loaded a fresh magazine into his suppressed 5.56 carbine.

Mike wore black pants, a black jacket with the sleeves rolled up, black tactical vest, black boots, and his knife on his left wrist. He carried his suppressed L86 with him.

"I'll watch your camera feeds from my computer here. Keep in contact through comms." Ela said setting up her equipment.

"Roger that." Valkyrie said.

All the operators put ear pieces you'd see the secret service wear into one of their ears.

"See you when you get back." Dominic said with a wave.

Jordan, Mike, Meghan, and Miles walked out the front door. It was still early in the morning so there wasn't much activity in the streets. A stray dog roamed freely in the streets. A light breeze blew past their building.

Meaghan put the lower part of her shemagh over her mouth and nose concealing the lower half of her face. She took Mile's arm to pretend that they were together. Mike and Jordan hustled down an alley way staying out of sight looking for the rooftop access that Miles had informed them of. Since Mike and Jordan were only providing Overwatch for the operators there was no need for them to wear disguises. They'd out of sight for the entirety of the mission. They found a fire escape down the block that led them to the rooftops. A beautiful voice came onto the town intercom beginning the Muslim call to prayer.

"Mic check 1, 2, 3. All operators check in." Dominic's voice said in their ears.

"Thatcher checking in."

"Thermite checking in."

"Valkyrie checking in."

"Vanguard checking in."

"Ela checking in."

"Comms check confirmed. Green light on objective proceed as planned. Bandit out."

Vanguard and Valkyrie continued down the streets toward the market. They wanted to get there before the shops opened. Dogs barked from alley ways. Voices could be heard from the insides of houses as citizens started with their mornings. The operators started to pick up their pace toward the market. The market was a wide-open area near the center of town surrounded by tall buildings. It was filled with a maze of stands for vendors. It looked like a giant flea market.

"Guardian 2, this is Recon 1 checking in. We've reached the market 1.5 kilos from station beginning our recon, break." Valkyrie whispered into her mic.

"Copy your information Recon 1. We should be at the market in 1 mike from Northeast 3 division up. Proceed with your mission." Thatcher responded.

Valkyries and Vanguard scouted the maze of vendor stands for a few minutes. People were starting to enter to set up their shops for the day, so they'd have to work quickly and quietly.

"I have 3 cameras. I was figuring we put one on the northside, one on the south side and one on that flag pole in the middle of the market." Valkyrie said pointing with her eyes at a flag pole a few meters in front of them that stood in the center of the market.

"Sounds good to me." Vanguard said.

Valkyrie reached into her robe and pulled out a Black Eye camera and primed it. The camera glowed blue and swiveled around wildly inside of its shell.

"Ela from Valkyrie."

"Send your traffic Valk." Ela responded.

"Preparing camera feed 1. Pick up my connection. Call contact."

Valkyrie heard typing on a computer through her ear piece.

"Contact." Ela said.

Valkyrie and Vanguard looked around to make sure no one was looking. People were starting to pile through the front gates to set up their stands. She looked at the top of the flag pole.

Vanguard looked at her with doubt.

"You really think you can hit the top of that…"

"Shut up and let me concentrate." Valkyrie hissed at him.

"k."

Valkyrie winded up and threw her camera. It arched through the air and landed right at the top of the flagpole. Vanguard looked at her stunned.

"Camera deployed." Valkyrie said confidently.

"Good deployment of camera. Feed is good. Nice throw." Ela said.

"Recon 1 from Guardian 2 we've taken up surveillance on a brown abandoned apartment complex Northeast of your position. I do have a visual on you. Nice throw by the way Valkyrie." Thatcher said on comms.

Valkyrie and Vanguard looked to the Northeast across the market. In the distance they saw the abandoned building. On the roof they could just barely make out two muzzles barely hanging over the edge of the building. She could feel Thatcher and Thermite eyes watching her. She winked at the direction of the building and gave her overwatch a quick flashy smile before pressing on.

Valkyrie and Vanguard continued through the market to find the next camera position. They went to the south section of the market. The market was now fully active. The air was filled with the chatter of people. It became so crowded that Valkyrie and Vanguard had to start pushing their way through people waiting at stands. She was starting to understand why this place was a target for terrorism.

"Recon 1 from Guardian 2. Got eyes on 15+ uniforms guarding the south side of the market by your position, break." Thatcher said.

"Guardian 2 this is Ela confirming Guardian 2's call out on camera. I think I also see an APC alongside the uniforms, break."

As Valkyrie and Vanguard approached the south side of the market she saw US Marines walking through the market. An APC with a bushmaster machinegun stood guard a few meters back. Valkyrie kept her head low as one of the soldiers walked by her.

 _These guys may be Americans, but they're not on our side._ Valkyrie reminded herself.

"Recon 1 solid copy on all. Guardian 2 continue to report uniform's position every 10 mikes how copy?" Valkyrie said confirming the information

"Solid copy Recon 1 we will report uniform's position every 10 mikes."

A large apartment building loomed over the south side of the market providing a good place for a Black Eye camera, but it was heavily guarded by the Marines.

"Vanguard, building 12 o'clock 30 meters. Let's put the second camera there." Valkyrie said pointing with her eyes at the building.

"There's a uniform looking right at us." Vanguard said motioning at a Marine keeping watch in front of their desired building. He was scanning the crowd in their general direction. If she threw a camera, the Marine would spot her.

"Distract him." Valkyrie said reaching for her next camera.

Vanguard gave her a dirty look.

"Go. I'll give you the signal." She said shooing him away. She primed the Black Eye camera. Vanguard positioned himself to side of the Marine a few meters away. He waited for Valkyrie to give him the signal.

"Ela from Valkyrie. Connect to my second feed call contact."

A few seconds of silence past.

"Contact."

Valkyrie gave Vanguard a nod.

"Hey! Excuse me sir!" Vanguard called out to the Marine.

The Marine and several other bystanders looked away from Valkyries position toward Vanguard. Valkyrie casually underhand tossed the camera sticking it to the side of the building.

"Camera in position." She said.

"Copy that. New feed is up and running." Ela responded.

Vanguard returned to Valkyrie.

"Good distraction." She said smiling at him.

"Thanks." Vanguard said rolling his eyes.

"We have one more camera to go but I want to try something before we place it."

"What do you want to do?" Vanguard dared to ask.

"Let's see if we can patch into their comms." Valkyrie said staring at the group of Marines walking through the market.

"How do you plan on doing that?"

"I have a special antenna we can use that can connect to their radio waves. I'll show you, cover me." She said taking a seat on a nearby bench. Vanguard took a seat next to her. She reached into her robe and pulled out what looked like a small remote control with a small antenna. She leaned onto Vanguard's shoulder to hide what she was doing. Vanguard wrapped his arm around her shoulder to look casual. Her body tensed at the gesture. Vanguard understood her feeling uncomfortable with what was going on, but they had to keep up their fake identities as a normal couple out shopping.

"Guardian 2 from Recon 1."

"Send your traffic Recon 1." Thatcher's voice came on comms.

"Hacking into uniform's comms. Going to assign it to channel 2. Monitor the channel how copy."

"Solid copy monitoring channel 2."

Valkyrie began to work on connecting the device to the marine's radio waves. Jordan switched his radio to their second channel and listened intently through the static.

"Hunter….. checking…. grid… 47792…. Do you copy?" A voice started to come into ear shot between the static. After a minute Jordan could clearly hear the Marine's comms.

"Recon 1 from Guardian 2 solid copy on uniform's comms."

"Copy that. Proceeding south toward your position." Valkyrie said putting away her tablet.

"Copy."

Valkyrie brushed Vanguard's arm off her and her way toward the south side of the market to Jordan and Thatcher's position. A telephone pole stood a few meters in front of their abandoned apartment building. Valkyrie radioed to Ela about the camera and deployed it. There mission was over.

"Bandit from Recon 1."

"This is Bandit."

"Camera's deployed we're RTB."

"Copy that." Bandit acknowledged.

"Guardian 2 also RTB." Thatcher said.

The operators made their way back to their apartment building. When the operators arrived, they removed their robes and body armor. They were all drenched in sweat from the Arabian heat. Valkyrie looked at the cameras she deployed on Ela's computer.

"We have full view of the entire market place. We can monitor the area for suspicious activity. From here. I was also able to hack into the US military's comms, so we can monitor their activity and movements. I assigned their frequency to channel 2."

"Great. We'll monitor the market every day. You monitor the cameras while Ela and I patrol the market. Jordan and Mike can provide overwatch from their abandoned apartment complex overlooking the area." Dominic said.

"Job well done you guys." Vanguard said.

 _You have a child?!_

 _That's correct._

 _And you never thought to tell me?_

… _._

 _Don't give me that face. Why didn't you tell me I was an aunt?_

…

 _Say it to my face._

 _Ela, stop this._

 _TELL ME WHY!_

 _FINE! BECAUSE YOU'RE NOT FIT TO BE AN AUNT!_

 _I'm not fit to be an aunt?_

 _Yes. You're not fit to be an aunt. Look at yourself Ela. Your life is a disaster. You're mentally unstable._

 _A disaster? Mentally unstable?_

 _Yes! And that's why you'll never meet your niece for as long as I live!_

 _I hope you fucking die Zoe._

 _See. Mentally unstable. Focus Ela._

 _Focus?_

 _Ela?_

 _What?_

 _ELA!_

"Ela!"

Ela brought herself back to the sick twisted reality of Ramadi, Iraq.

"I see you daydreaming over there." Bandit said through her earpiece.

Ela turned to the north side of the market. Under the shadow of an awning she could just barely make out Bandit's silhouette leaning against a wall with his head down. She could feel his eyes glaring at her.

"I wasn't daydreaming." She responded looking down at her feet.

"Sure." Bandit said sarcastically.

"Recon 1 from Guardian 2, reporting no suspicious activity and no suspicious uniform movement break." Jordan's voice interrupted through their ear pieces.

"All units from Valkyrie, all video feeds showing no signs of hostiles."

"Copying all, 1100 hours." Bandit responded.

 _We've been at this for weeks and haven't found shit. We're chasing ghosts._ Ela griped to herself.

Ela crossed her arms and leaned against a post to a vendor stand. She watched the chaos of people buying and selling product. US Marines stood by the southside entrance of the market keeping a close eye on the crowds of people. The market seemed to have more vendors than usual today. A little boy, about 11 years old, played with a big red kick ball near the group of Marines. She smiled as she watched him play. She had a soft spot when it came to children. He bounced the ball and it careened toward her. Ela put her foot on the bowl and kicked it back to him. He gathered the ball in his arms with a somber look on his face.

Ela knitted her eyebrows. _Why the long face little guy?_

"Hey little man!" One of the Marines said approaching the boy.

The boy turned away from Ela to the Marine.

"I hate to bother you, but could you play with your ball over…."

The Marine's words were cut off by a blinding light and fire.


	7. Part 2 Chapter 7

Part 2 Chapter 7

Ela's vision whited out. She felt as if she were floating in slow motion. Her skin burned like someone had set her on fire.

Her feeling of floating was abruptly ended by the impact of the ground beneath her. The whiteness in her eyes cleared as she found herself lying on her back. Black smoke poured into the air. Bits of rock and hot shrapnel rained down pelting her body. The tinnitus in her ears made her nauseous. Everything around her appeared to be moving in slow motion. The air smelt of burning flesh and death. She rolled over onto her stomach grimacing in pain. She watched crowds of people running and screaming in all directions. She could hear a baby crying from somewhere.

Bodies laid motionless all around her.

The Marine who had tried to approach the child with the ball laid a few meters away from her screaming for help as a pool of blood began to form around him. A Marine medic ran over to him and began to treat his injuries. The other Marines screamed at everyone to clear the area. They swept their guns wildly back and forth at the fleeing civilians.

The ringing in Ela's ears began to subside but the voices and screams all around her sounded muffled as if she were underwater.

 _The child!_ Her conscience screamed at her.

She looked to where she had last seen the child playing.

The only evidence that remained of the boy was a pair of charred children's sneakers smoldering in the dirt.

The sight made Ela vomit.

Ela wiped her mouth and noticed her ear piece dangling from her coat. She fumbled with it in her trembling hands and placed it in her ear. Her radio at switched to channel 2. Her ear piece lit up with voices of panicking Marines trying desperately to figure out what was going on.

"WE HAVE A MAN DOWN I REPEAT WE HAVE A MAN DOWN!"

"WE NEED A QRF DOWN HERE IMMIDIATELY!"

"WHAT HAPPENED?"

"THAT BOY WITH THE BALL BLEW HIMSELF UP!"

She pressed a button switching her radio back to their squad's secure radio frequency.

"Ela?" She heard Dominic's underwater voice through the radio.

She pressed the button on her mic to speak but couldn't muster any words.

"Ela, can you hear me?" Bandit asked with desperation in his voice.

Silence.

"Guardian 2 do you have a visual on Ela?"

"Negative. I have zero visibility. Smoke and dust is too thick." She heard Thatcher's underwater voice say.

"Copy that. Thatcher and Thermite cover me. I'm going after Ela."

Ela looked up to the scattering crowd moving in slow motion around her.

Her heart fluttered as she watched all the shop vendors slowly and casually put on white hockey masks and drew an arsenal of weaponry.

"CONTACTS 12 O'CLOCK 25 METERS!" A Marine called out.

All the Marines reacted to the call out in slow motion.

A round whizzed over Ela's head which snapped her vision and hearing back to normal as adrenaline began to course through her veins.

This was the moment her team had been preparing for.

Ela watched as a man with a PKM light machine gun unloaded on the medic helping the wounded Marine.

His rounds cut the Marine down turning his body to gory swiss cheese.

The squad of Marines began to retaliate as an all-out firefight erupted in the market between the two factions with Ela stuck completely exposed in their crossfire. She continued to lay on the ground as bullets screamed over her left and right side. Civilians who hadn't vacated the area yet were cut down by the overwhelming amount of suppressive fire.

Ela needed to find cover.

She glanced her eyes up at a vendor stand 15 meters in front of her. She looked to her left at the man on the PKM. His first belt of ammunition was almost depleted. She'd run when he reloaded. Ela looked to her right. The squad of Marines had regrouped, and a few others had joined the battle.

"RELOADING!" The PKM machine gunner called out in Arabic.

Ela jumped to her feet and ran in a dead sprint for the vendor stand. Her sudden movement took the Marines by surprise.

They must have thought she was a corpse.

The White Masks tried to shoot Ela down, but they missed wildly. She was too quick and too small of a target to hit. Ela dove head first over the counter landing in a heap inside the stand. She ripped off her robe exposing her battle dress. She pulled her shemagh down around her neck exposing her long brown pony tailed hair. Bullets began to rip the stand she was using as cover to splinters.

Clearly the stand wouldn't hold up for very long.

Thermite keyed up on their frequency.

"Bandit this is Guardian 2. I have eyes on Ela. South East side of the market in one of the vendor stands about 50 meters West from you. She's right in the middle of the enemy's kill zone. Permission to provide cover fire from above."

"Copy that, I'm moving. You're free to engage all hostiles." Bandit said as he stayed low and weaved through the masses of people trying to get away from the firefight.

Ela keyed up on her coms.

"Ela to all units can you hear me?"

"Ela this is Bandit I hear you. What's your status?" She could hear him huffing and puffing as he ran.

"I'm okay. Stuck under heavy fire. I'm engaging both factions." Ela said as she unclipped her Scorpion Evo from her vest.

She loaded a fresh magazine and cocked her weapon.

She took aim at the man with the PKM machine gun who was taking aim at the cover she was behind. She let off a small burst from her SMG nailing the man in the head showering his teammates next to him in blood. The Masks began to fire at Ela's position. More and more White Masks began to push into the market forcing the Marines to withdraw. Ela noticed some of the White Masks firing at her randomly crumpling to the ground with gaping chest wounds. Another Mask's head exploded despite him being hidden behind cover. She noticed a small flash from the roof of the abandoned apartment building on the north side of the market. The flash of light was from sunlight reflecting off glass.

 _Wow. The old guys are better shots than I thought._ Ela thought smiling at her teammates handy work. She wasn't sure if it was Thatcher or Thermite doing most of the shooting.

"CONTACT 1 O'CLOCK HIGH! BROWN APARTMENT BUILDING ROOF TOP!" A Marine called out to his teammates. Some of the Marines began to take pot shots at Thatcher and Thermite's look out point mistaking them as terrorists.

"Pierdolić. (Fuck.)" She said to herself watching and contemplating how to help her teammates.

She began to hear the sound of an engine and tires on gravel from the Marine's side of the battlefield. A US Stryker rumbled its way through the entrance of the market and began to hammer Thatcher and Thermite's position with its 105mm cannon.

"BLOODY YANKEES!" Thatcher yelled as the two operators ran away from the edge of the roof.

'You got any EMP grenades?" Thermite asked staying way from the roof's edge.

'Yeah!"

'Throw one at that Stryker."

Thatcher unclipped an EMP grenade, primed the charge and heaved it as far as he could across the market. The grenade landed in proximity of the Stryker and exploded with a thunderous boom. The Stryker abrutply seized fire. The Marine infantry, however, continued to hammer away at their position.

"Proszę, wybacz mi, bóg. (Please God forgive me.)" Ela said as she unclipped one of her Gerzmot mines.

She threw the mine at the Marines aimed at Thatcher and Thermite. The mine exploded sounding like a clap of lightning. The Marines in proximity of the mine dropped to the floor holding their ears screaming in pain. Ela tried to take aim at the incapacitated Marines but the White Masks on her opposite side began to fire forcing her back into cover. Ela heard footsteps rushing toward her. She pulled out her pistol and was about to start shooting when a man hurtled over her cover knocking Ela over. The man wore a black and yellow leather jacket, ripped jeans, black sneakers, and a GSG 9 helmet with a badasclava over his face.

The look was all to familiar.

"Were you about to shoot me?" Banidt asked loading a fresh magazine into his MP7.

'I didn't know if you were a bad guy or not. Sorry." Ela said wiping away the dirt caked to her face.

"Save the apologies for later. Let's get you out of here."

Valkyrie watched the firefight unfold through her cameras. She monitored both factions as the chaos unfolded on her laptop screen. She gave call outs of targets presenting themselves to her teammates.

"I'll be back in a jiffy!" Vanguard yelled to her as he ran out the door with his gear half dangling off him.

She desperately wanted to join Vanguard in helping her friends, but she had to stay back and monitor the US military's actions. She was their only eyes and ears monitoring their radio traffic and movements.

The Marines on the ground screamed for air support but a bird couldn't get up in the air in time due to "weather." All could be mustered for the poor bastards was the Stryker but Thatcher's EMP grenade had shut it down for good. Valkyrie watched as the White Masks continued to push the Marines back. She swiveled to where Ela and Bandit were hiding in a vendor's stand together. They too would be overrun by the Masks if they didn't move. Then things took an even darker turn for her team. US military chatter began to liven up.

"Overlord, this is Viper 6-1 checking in. Flight of 2-1 ZULU Cobras time from station 30 mikes holding angels 2 Southwest of area Prussia. Armed with: 8 Hellfires, 4 TOWs, 1800 rounds between us. Requesting to divert from flight path to area Prussia to assist Goliath under contact, break."

"Viper 6-1 this is Overlord. If you have enough fuel to provide air cover and make it back to base, then you have my permission to assist. How copy?"

"Copy that. We have plenty of fuel sir we'll make this brief. ETA to area Prussia 3 mikes."

"Goliath from Overlord, you have Viper 6-1, two Cobra gunships armed for bear coming out of the Southeast, maintaining angels 2. Patching them to you now."

"Copy that Overlord. Preparing 6 lines." A radio operator said. The firefight could be heard in the background whenever he spoke.

Valkyrie felt a pit in her stomach. 2 Cobra gunships inbound with a shit ton of ordnance ready to annihilate anything they saw on their thermals in the market place.

She had to warn her friends.

"Valkyrie to all units operating on the battleground. 2 Cobra gunships are armed set to strafe the entire market place. You have to evacuate the area."

"This is Vanguard. I'm almost at the market place. We can't leave without capturing at least one of the Masks."

"You do not have time Vanguard. The Cobras will begin their strafe at any moment."

As if on cue, one of the cobra pilots keyed up on comms.

"Goliath, I have your squad in my sights. I see multiple hostiles on thermals north of your position as well as two snipers in a brown apartment building across from your position. Am I clear to engage?"

"Viper 6-1 you are clear to engage."

The Marine radio operator began to give Viper 6-1 lines of engagement.

Ela and Bandit heard the beating of chopper blades. The White Masks screamed fearfully in Arabic pointing at the Cobras and began to run.

Valkyrie was right.

They were out of time.

"RUUUUUUUUN!" Bandit screamed pushing Ela out of the shopping stand.

The two operators sprinted out into the open as the ground around them began to explode from the two Cobra's explosive chain gun rounds. Any Mask in front of the two Cobras was evaporated into a red chunky mist. They ran for an alley way 30 meters from their position. They could see Vanguard from the alley way waving at them to hurry up. The White Masks ran for their lives as the gunships strafed over the market. The US Marines fired at the two operators as they darted across the battlefield. Their rounds buzzed passed them as they fled.

Thermite watched the Cobra gunships approach their building from their look out point. Each Cobra fired a rocket at their building.

"MOVE IT OLD MAN OUR POSITION IS TOAST!" Thermite yelled as he grabbed Thatcher and practically threw him down the stairs. The Cobra rockets impacted the front face of the building.

The explosions from the rockets made the building shudder.

"SHE'S GOING TO COLLAPSE!" Thatcher yelled.

The two operators jumped from a window down toward a building rooftop 2 stories below them. Their abandoned apartment building crumbled behind them.

Ela and Bandit made it to the alley way with Vanguard.

They tore off down the alley back toward their base.

Bandit assumed the mission was a failure until he heard screaming from behind him.

A White Mask laid 15 meters shy of the alleyway the operators had used to escape the market. He held his thigh as blood oozed out between his fingers. Bandit turned around and ran back out into the market.

"BANDIT GET BACK HERE BEFORE YOU GET YOURSELF KILLED!" Vanguard screamed at him.

Marines fired at Bandit as he darted out into the market, grabbed the wounded White Mask by the back of his jacket, and dragged him into the alleyway. Ela peaked around the wall of the alley and covered him as he ran back to them. One of the Marines firing at Bandit got clipped by Ela's covering fire and crumpled to the ground.

 _You idiot. You just broke an international truce between allies._ Ela's conscience rang in the back of her head.

Bandit dragged the man into the alley and then hoisted him on his shoulders. They made a break for it out of the market place leaving the sounds of the massacre taking place behind them.

"ALL UNITS THIS IS VANGUARD, PACKAGE SECURE WE'RE RTB ALL UNITS EVACUATE THE MARKET PLACE!" Vanguard yelled as they ran.

"This is Guardian 2 copy that we are RTB. Just give us a few minutes." Thermite's voice said.

"Thermite are you okay?" Valkyrie asked through their comms.

"Yeah… peachy… like I said just give us a couple of minutes."

"Copy."

The Cobra gunships hovered just above the buildings surrounding the market. They began to unleash the last of their ordinance leveling the entire market. Ela, Bandit, and Vanguard continued to sprint home while carrying the wounded White Masked man. They tried their best to tune out the screams all around them.


	8. Part 3 Chapter 8

Part 3 Chapter 8

The White Mask man kicked and hollered on Bandit's shoulder as the 3 operators ran through the city alley ways toward their base. Vanguard put a black hood over the man's head, so he couldn't figure out the location of their base. Despite being a fair distance away from the market, the operators could still hear gun fire and screaming. The city streets appeared to be a ghost town as people took shelter in their homes. After a few minutes of running through the intense desert heat they finally made it back to their apartment. They burst through the front door making Valkyrie jump out of her seat.

"Valk, get me a chair and put it in the bathroom." Bandit commanded.

Valkyrie found an old wooden chair and placed it in the bathroom. Bandit placed their hostage in the chair and tied him to it. Valkyrie studied the man from head to toe. She noticed his leg was bleeding and bandaged it. It was only a flesh wound. The man babbled nervously at them in Arabic.

"Where's that White Mask motherfucker?" Ela shouted marching toward the bathroom. Her vision ran red and she felt an uncontrollable rage inside of her. She shoved Valkyrie out of the bathroom.

She punched the White Mask across the face with so much force she knocked the man over while still attached to the chair. She began to punch him relentlessly in the side of the head screaming.

"CONTROL YOURSELF!" Bandit yelled yanking her out of the bathroom.

Tears welled up in her eyes.

"They… they… killed… they killed children… they killed fucking children. I'm sorry." She whispered as she broke down crying. Bandit embraced her. Ela sobbed in his shoulder.

"I know. I saw it. I know…" He said softly. It was all he could manage to say.

All Ela could see in her head was her niece that her older sister forbade her from seeing.

Thatcher and Thermite limped inside the apartment.

"Thatch? Thermite? Guys take a seat. What happened?" Valkyrie asked rushing over to help them. The two men took seats on an old dusty couch. They were covered from head to toe in dirt. Parts of their uniforms were shredded.

"Cobra took out our building in its first strafe. We ended up having to jump from a window to another rooftop." Thermite said between breaths.

"When we made it to street level we ran into some retreating White Masks. Had to take them out to ensure we didn't compromise our base of operations. Once we were clear we ran as fast as we could back here. Uniforms are patrolling the streets searching for anyone involved in the attack." Thatcher said stripping off his combat gear.

Thermite and Thatcher watched Ela walk upstairs to her room. Her face was still puffy and teary eyed.

"What's up with her?" Thermite asked once she was out of sight.

Valkyrie spun her laptop around to Thermite and played a video. It was a playback on one of her Black Eye cameras. They watched as a boy played with a ball in front of Ela at first and then unexpectedly detonated into a ball of fire sending Ela airborne. Thermite and Thatcher saw the explosion from their lookout point but they had no idea a little boy caused it so the footage shocked both of them.

"Put it away. I can't watch anymore." Thatcher said closing his eyes and looking away.

Thermite continued watching the footage. He'd seen plenty of suicide bomber attacks involving children when he was in the Marines during the Second Gulf War. He closed the lid of the laptop and slid it back to Valkyrie. He looked over to the bathroom where a man with a black hood over his head talked nervously in Arabic to Vanguard. He looked back at Valkyrie who was also staring at their hostage.

"That our VIP?" Thermite asked her.

"Yeah." She said still eyeing the hostage. Thermite could tell she was trying hard to act professional and hold back her anger.

"We squeeze every bit of information out of him. By any means." Thermite said coldly.

"I know." She said collecting her laptop.

Thatcher walked upstairs to find Ela.

Ela sat on her sleeping bag drawing in her old pocket-sized notebook. She had managed to calm herself down. She flipped past all the old pictures and maps she had drawn from years ago to a fresh page. She began to sketch a picture of her niece straight from her memory of the one and only time she ever met her. When the sketch was done she stared at it for some time. The sketch made her smile.

"Knock knock." A rough British voice said.

Thatcher leaned on the doorframe to her makeshift room.

"I hope I'm not intruding Miss Bosak."

"Not at all. Come in." She said closing her notebook.

Thatcher walked in and leaned against the wall in front of her. He let out a sigh and rubbed his face.

"You good?" He asked with a serious tone.

"Yeah I'll be fine." She said looking down at her feet.

Thatcher knelt in front her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Listen. I understand your pain. Just know that we're all here for you and you're not alone. We're family. Okay?" He said smiling at her.

Ela managed a halfhearted smile.

"Yeah." Was all she could manage.

"Good. I'll leave you be then." Thatcher said getting up to walk toward the door.

"Thacher…" Ela called before he turned to go down the hall.

Thatcher paused at the door.

"Yes?"

"I know you trained us on keeping our heads focused on the mission and what not, but do you ever think about your family when you're out on missions?"

Thatcher paused thinking about his wife and son. He missed them dearly.

He'd do anything to call them right now just to hear their voices.

"More than you know it. Don't think for a second that what I just saw on that computer screen isn't eating me alive right now. I want to punch that wanker downstairs just as much as you do." He said and walked down the steps.

After some time to cool down from the White Mask attack, the operators debriefed and discussed their next steps which was how they were going to interrogate their hostage.

"We interrogate him tomorrow 0600. Valkyrie, you lead the interrogation. I'll stand back and translate for you. Bandit, listen closely and document the information he gives." Vanguard said bringing the debrief to a close.

The operators agreed and prepared for tomorrow.

…

Valkyrie ripped the black hood off the hostage. The hostage squinted past the bright bathroom lights to look at her.

Valkyrie and Vanguard stood over the man in an intimidating fashion.

Vanguard translated the man's and Valkyrie's words in Arabic.

"Name?" She asked.

"Ali." He said nervously.

"Where are you from Ali?"

"Baghdad."

"Baghdad?! A little far from home aren't ya?" Valkyrie said mockingly.

Ali stared blankly at her.

Valkyrie paced around the room. If she would've known they would be conducting interrogations she would've asked Six to bring Tiana with them.

"So, how'd you join the Masks?" Valkyrie pressed on.

"Recruiter."

"Recruiter?"

"Yes."

"Tell me about the recruiter."

"You white pieces of shit think you own our country. March into our homes. Destroy our culture. Our family. You use our religion as a scapegoat for your actions. Fuck you!"

"Name calling? Really? That's not nice."

Valkyrie walked to the door and made a gesture for someone to come inside. Bandit walked into the room with his battery device. He placed the battery in front of Ali. Ali stared at it wide eyed. Bandit touched the two cables together creating a massive spark causing the man to jump in his seat.

Bandit gave the cords to Valkyrie and took a step back.

Valkyrie placed the cables on his chest. Ali screamed and thrashed around violently as the amperage from the battery flowed through him. The room began to smell of burning flesh.

Bandit closed his eyes and looked away with a painful expression on his face.

He couldn't bear to watch. The memories of his time undercover in the Hells Angels replayed in his head. It was where he had invented the crude device. He was surrounded in a garage by the gang after his identity had been compromised. He had no other weapons other than some car batteries and cables.

The rest was history. Bandit slipped out of the room and continued to listen to the interrogation.

Valkyrie pulled the cables off Ali.

"YOU FUCKING PSYCHOPATH!" The man shouted.

Valkyrie giggled at the remark and squatted down in front of him. She lifted the man's sagging head with her finger, so he'd look her in the eyes.

"Listen sweetheart, cooperate and it won't happen again." Valkyrie said with a glowing smile. The man looked terrified yet lost in Valkyrie's beauty all at the same time.

"So, as you were saying, because of the motivations of the allies against terror led you to join the Islamic State? I really don't care about your motive. That's just details. Just tell me about your organization." Valkyrie continued with the interrogation.

"Okay." Ali said.

"So where did the recruiter take you?"

"He sent me an a few others here."

"Here?"

"Yes… but not exactly." He said hesitantly.

"Give me an exact location."

"Where the Euphrates River feeds into Habbaniyah Lake."

"If I show you a map, can you point to it?"

The man nodded.

Vanguard brought in a laptop with a satellite image of Ramadi. Ali pointed to the location on the map with his nose.

"Describe the location." Valkyrie commanded.

"It's a training camp. We went to obtain weapons and train."

"Train? So, you guys are organized?"

"We try to be. How do you think we were able to launch such a coordinated attack on the market?" Ali sneered.

"Tell me about your trainers. Are they the White Masks?"

"Yes."

"Tell me about the Masks. Who's in charge?"

"I can't."

Valkyrie's expression darkened.

"Ali, you might want to rethink what you just said." She said reaching for the battery cables.

"IF THEY FIND OUT I TALKED THEY'LL KILL ME!" He begged.

"You revealed your stronghold to us. It's already too late for you Ali." Valkyrie said coldly and connected the cables to Ali's chest.

The man wailed in pain.

His body spasmed in his chair.

Valkyrie shocked Ali longer this time. For some reason she began to feel a twinge of satisfaction from her actions.

She removed the cables and let Ali catch his breath.

"We'll try again. Tell me about the Masks." Valkyrie said patiently.

"Okay okay. They live in the stronghold. They have so much combat experience. Made of different nationalities. Full of knowledge." Ali said between gasping breaths.

"They have previous experience?"

"Yes. All the White Mask troopers fought in various conflicts for different militaries previously. Learning to fight from mixed backgrounds has turned us into better fighters."

"So how many are there in Ramadi?"

"I don't know. Honestly."

"And who's the leader?"

Ali stood silent for a few seconds.

"His name is Captain Anderson. From the looks of him he's a Westerner. White. Mid-thirties. Long brown beard. High and tight haircut. You can't miss him. I don't think he's in charge of their whole operation. He reports to someone higher up frequently but nobody knows who he is. Not even the White Mask troopers." He finally mustered.

"Thank you for the information Ali you've been very helpful to us." Valkyrie said flashing him another charming smile.

"So, are you going to let me go?" He asked with a beacon of hope.

Valkyrie looked over to Vanguard. He shook his head frowning and left the room. She understood the message. She turned back to Ali looking him dead in the eye.

"I can't." Valkyrie said pulling out her Desert Eagle from her holster.

She aimed it at Ali's head and pulled back the draw.

"THE MASKS WILL KILL YOU ALL! GET AWAY FROM ME YOU WITCH!" The man screamed thrashing wildly in his chair trying to get away from Valkyrie.

Valkyrie squeezed the trigger.

Ali's head exploded splattering blood all over Valkyrie.

She stood in the eerie silence cover in his blood.

She felt completely different on the inside. She couldn't tell what the feeling was, but it felt strange.

She felt… like a new woman.

"That was for all the innocent men, women, and children your group has murdered." She whispered to the corpse.

Valkyrie spat on the body and left the bathroom. The remaining operators downstairs watched her leave covered in blood with expressionless faces except for Vanguard.

Vanguard gave her a nod of approval.

Thatcher, Thermite, and Bandit walked out of the room to get some fresh air. Vanguard walked into the bathroom to dispose of the body.

Valkyrie took in a shaky breath. She pulled down her shemagh dotted with blood letting her blonde hair fall naturally.

She fanned her face trying to get a grip on reality.

 _This isn't you Meghan. You're all fucked up. Get a grip. You could be court marshaled if anyone finds out about this. What would your father think of you?_ She thought to herself.

When the operators returned to the living room they talked over the information that Valkyrie obtained from Ali. The more they talked, the more a plan began to take shape and the closer they were to finding the next higher up in the White Mask involvement in Iraq. First, they'd have to find the base in the desert. Once it was located they'd observe and collect data about the base. Once they acquired enough intel they'd assault the base and find Captain Anderson. They'd interrogate him to find the leader of the entire White Mask operation in this corner of the world and steal any other intel they could find. By the time the operators were done talking it was getting late. The operators would need their sleep to prep for their next endeavor.

Valkyrie slithered into her sleeping bag and stared at the ceiling. She listened to the wind blow past her window. The events of today replayed through her mind. The more and more she thought about what she's done over these past weeks, the more and more she became convinced she was losing her mind. She took a breath and tried to calm her mind. She pulled out headphones from her rucksack and plugged them into an old iPod Nano. She placed the headphones in her ears and let the classical rock music on the iPod drift her off to sleep. She began to dream of happier times in her life. The music she was listening to played in the background of her dream as she found herself in the living room of her dad's house in California. She turned around and saw her dad behind her.

He was young.

Then she noticed that he was towering over her. Meghan looked at herself in a window reflection.

She looked like she was 10 years old in the reflection and was dressed in a nice little dress.

She felt all stress disappear. She felt no worries. She closed her eyes and swayed to the music feeling it through her entire body. Her stress felt as if it were melting away.

"Care to dance young lady?" Her father said reaching out his hand to her smiling.

Meghan took her father's hand and danced with him just like how they used to when they were younger. Her father smiled as she danced with her little girl to Dion & The Belmonts, "I Wonder Why" on an old phonograph they used to keep in their house. Meghan's father loved old time music.

Valkyries eyes lit up when her mother entered the living room dancing and smiling. She'd never gotten to know her mother. Her mother passed away when she was an infant.

Meghan felt total euphoria as she danced alongside her young mother and father. She felt at home. Her family together again. She felt separated from the hell she was currently living in.

As the song progressed she felt herself growing. Becoming older. Maturing. Her sleeve tattoos appeared on her body. Her muscles began to grow and felt raw strength flow into her. Soon she was back in her full battle dress.

Her father's expression changed to dread.

He pushed Meghan from him. She fell to the ground looking up at her father and mother.

"What have you done with my daughter?" He asked as his expression turned to sadness.

"Dad? What are you talking about? Its me. Meghan." She said reaching out to him.

"Don't touch me. You're not my daughter. You're just some sick freak. A murderer." He said turning away from her unable to bear the sight of her.

"Mom?" Meghan asked looking to her mother.

"Meghan, I never thought you'd end up like this. You've broke my heart." Her mother said and turned her back. Meghan could hear her crying.

As her parents said this, Valkyrie felt warm liquid on her skin.

She smelt pennies.

She looked down at herself to see she was covered from head to toe in blood that wasn't hers.

"Dad its me. Meghan. Don't go. Please don't go." She begged to her father.

"I don't have a daughter anymore." He said leaving the house. Meghan's mother followed behind him.

Meghan got up and chased after her parents, but it was fruitless.

It seemed as if she were running in place.

Meghan's father slammed the door shut.

The song and the dream abruptly ended.

Meghan woke up in a cold sweat ripping the headphones out of her ears.

Sunlight pierced through a nearby window.

It was time to get to work.

But Meghan didn't want to go to work. She wanted to go home to California and see her father. And remind him his daughter loved him dearly.


	9. Part 3 Chapter 9

Part 3: Chapter 9

The blistering Arabian sun shined brightly against the clear blue sky. A slight breeze moved across the dune sea whipping up bits of sand past the 3 operators trekking by camel back. Ela removed her baseball cap and wiped the sweat from her brow. She squinted through the intense light to observe the endless dunes that surrounded her. The sun was so bright her sunglasses were practically useless. She readjusted the shemagh that covered her face. The air felt heavy and the smell from her camel didn't make conditions any better. Ela learned quickly that riding a camel wasn't a walk in the park and took some time getting the hang of. She tried her best to keep pace with Vanguard who led the pack from up front. He appeared to know where he was going as he followed their route on a map. Ela returned her baseball cap to her head. She turned her attention back to her drawing in her notebook. Her drawing captured a candid picture of her best friend Meghan on camelback in front of her moving alone toward the desert horizon.

"You still alive back there Liz?" Valkyrie asked.

Ela looked up at her friend. Valkyrie wore her usual combat attire except her shemagh was not only covering her head but also her face, she had her sunglasses on, and her blue t shirt was long sleeves, but they were rolled up exposing part of her tattooed arms. The Italian genes in Meghan Castello showed as her skin soaked up the Arabian sun like a sponge turning her white skin a rich bronze color.

"Skin as white as paper and extreme UV exposure doesn't mix very well. I feel like I'm about to burst into flames any second now." Ela griped.

Valkyrie laughed.

"Hang in there Casper the Ghost." She said.

Ela chuckled and continued with her drawing. Bandit, Thermite, and Thatcher were lucky Vanguard was only able to obtain 3 camels. The old men probably wouldn't have lasted 5 minutes in these conditions without developing heat stroke. Jordan would've made out okay, but the team needed them to stay back and hold down their base of operations. Bandit would try and collect more intel while they were gone.

The party pressed on through the desert cresting dune after dune keeping an eye out for Habbaniyah Lake, the location of the White Mask stronghold continuing the attacks in Ramadi.

"Only a few more miles to go." Vanguard said studying a map of the area. The location of the White Mask base that operators had interrogated out of a captured White Mask trooper was marked in heavy red ink on the map along the lake.

"Look over there! 1 o'clock!" Valkyrie said with an excited voice pointing at something in the distance.

Past the dunes the operators could see the cyan waters of Habbaniyah Lake breaking the horizon. The view was stunning.

Ela put the finishing touches to her drawing and shoved it into her backpack. She took time to admire the landscape in front of her.

"We're entering enemy territory, stay frosty." Vanguard warned unfolding his FMG 9 and loading a clip.

Ela unstrapped her Scorpion Evo from the side of her camel and set it on her lap. Valkyrie unfolded the stock of her MPX and clipped to the front of her combat vest letting it dangle freely.

The operators trekked for another half hour closing their distance on the lake. They crested a tall dune and down below in the distance they could make out a small tent city. Valkyrie pulled out binoculars and observed the tent city. She could see armed people milling around the camp. Some of them wore white hockey masks.

Valkyrie smiled underneath her shemagh.

"Looks like we found White Mask Summer Camp." She said passing the binoculars to Vanguard.

"Intel is dead on." He said looking through the binoculars.

Vanguard observed the tent city and its surroundings. They could take shelter in the dunes and observe the enemy's movements. Once they gathered enough intel, they would strike.

He handed the binoculars to Ela.

"If we get a little closer I can start mapping the base out for our preplans." Ela said observing the base.

"Okay, so we'll establish base camp here out of the enemy's sight. We start our information gathering tomorrow. Sound good?" Vanguard said.

Valkyrie and Ela nodded in agreement. The operators hopped off their camels and began to unpack their gear.

…

Ela laid at the top of a sand dune out of sight looking down toward the tent city just below her. She carefully sketched out her map of the base which was almost complete. Valkyrie laid next to her staring through her binoculars documenting Captain Anderson, the White Mask leader in the enemy camp. They would interrogate him for information once they had a strategy in place. Captain Anderson was easy to find using Vanguard's drone, Valkyrie's intelligence gathering skills, and the information they were provided with. He was the only white man with a beard on base and he loved to yell his orders in peoples faces. It was almost a dead giveaway. Today he was yelling at a bunch of Islamic State recruits for their horrible shooting skills. Valkyrie let down her binoculars and turned to her friend whose nose was buried in her notebook finishing her map sketch. Ela had to make sure every little bit of the map was accurate.

The devil is in the details. Timur would be proud if he saw the amount detail she put into the map.

Ela felt eyes on her. She paused her pencil strokes.

"Yes Meghan?"

"So… what's up?" Valkyrie asked randomly.

"I'm kind of in the middle of something Meg." Ela said returning to her drawing.

"Seriously?" Valkyrie said disgusted.

"I'm in the middle of drawing a map that's important!"

"We haven't had a genuine conversation since we started this mission."

"We're at work. You should be focusing on observation and documentation of the enemy."

Valkyrie rolled her eyes at the comment. She picked up sand and let the grains run between her fingers which tickled her skin.

"You're very high-strung Liz. You need to relax."

Ela sighed, dropped her pencil, and turned to her friend.

"High-strung? I'm high-strung?" She said narrowing her eyes.

"Yes. You are high-strung."

"Take a look around you. We're surrounded by terrorists who want to kill us. It would probably make anyone just a little high-strung." Ela said annoyed. She couldn't believe she was having this conversation right now.

Valkyrie chuckled. Ela was so easy to piss off and pissing Ela off was one of Meghan's guilty pleasures.

"But seriously though Liz what's up?" Valkyrie said sincerely.

"Nothing much just taking this mission day by day." Ela said returning to her sketch. She added her last detail.

"Same here." Valkyrie said rolling over staring at the sky. The sun reflected off the black war paint beneath her eyes.

"I feel like the faster we can get this mission over with the faster we can get home." Ela said closing her book and putting it in her backpack.

"I want to go home just as much as you do but we can't think like that."

"Why not?"

"Slow is smooth and smooth is fast. If we rush through this mission, then we'll make mistakes and then we'll have to waste our time fixing those mistakes which will add more time to our mission causing delays. If we take this slow and do everything right the first time, it'll save us time later on."

"Whatever you say Emerson." Ela laughed.

"That's what my dad used to tell me when I was on the swim team. 'Meghan remember, slow is smooth, smooth is fast! Do it right and you won't make any mistakes!' God, I miss my old man." Valkyrie said as her mind flashed back to when she was younger. She began to feel queasy at the thought. Ever since her nightmare with her father her thoughts of home made her nauseous.

"Is he still in California?" Ela asked continuing the conversation.

"Yup. Same house and everything. The man won't give it up. It means too much to him. He still thinks I'm in some SEAL unit working with the US military. I wish I could tell him about Rainbow. I hope he's doing okay. It's been way too long since I last saw him. I miss him so much…" Valkyrie's voice trailed off.

Ela frowned. Valkyrie held her father dear to her. She wished she had a similar relationship with her father too, but her father had other plans for young Ela and her older sister Zofia. The yelling, the beatings, being called a failure of a daughter because she didn't want to go to the military. Slowly being pushed over the edge. 'Why can't you be like your older sister?' Her father always asked her. She was almost glad he killed himself. She hated her father. He was the reason why their mom left and why her and Zo hate each other.

Ela could feel a roar of anger crackling in mind. The thoughts of her father always made her feel this way. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath trying to bring herself back to reality.

"You'll see him soon." Ela mustered.

Valkyrie felt the angry vibe coming from Ela.

"You finished with that map?" Valkyrie asked changing the subject.

"Yeah. It's all done."

"Alright let's regroup with Vanguard then." Valkyrie said picking up her gear. Valkyrie reached out a hand to her friend. Ela took Valkyrie's hand and she pulled Ela up nearly throwing her off the dune from her strength.

Ela gathered her gear and the two operators slinked away from the enemy encampment. They made it back behind their sand dune and reported their latest intel. Ela showed Vanguard the map. Valkyrie and Vanguard looked over the map impressed by Ela's accuracy and attention to detail.

"Very well done, Elizabetha." Vanguard complimented.

Valkyrie gave her friend a confident nod of approval.

Ela managed to crack a smile. She was happy to get the ball rolling with their objective. They'd been waiting in the desert for days watching and documenting. She wanted to act and take the fight to White Masks.

Now that they had a map and knew how their enemy operated on base, they could plan their attack.

They'd plan tomorrow.

Night settled within a few hours. The operators sat around a red tinted low light lamp in silence under the stars. The operators couldn't use any other light or make a fire in fear of compromising their position. They could hear in the distance the people in the enemy encampment yelling and cheering about something. Valkyrie sat wrapped in blankets shivering from the almost below freezing temperatures. Vanguard picked at an MRE while Ela casually drew in her notebook both operators unphased by the cold.

Vanguard noticed Valkyrie shivering and laughed to himself.

"The desert biome is such a deceptive place. In the day time it brings relentless heat but when night falls the temperature can drop below freezing. Mother Nature works in mysterious ways." Vanguard said.

"California natives never do well in the cold. In BUD/S the instructors made me do horrific amounts of calisthenics that would break most men, but it never broke me. What broke me was the cold water, cold environment, cold everything. The cold kicked my ass when I was deployed to these parts years ago." Valkyrie mustered being chattering teeth.

Ela giggled at her friend's gripes. From living in Poland most of her life she was numb to the cold.

"Try not to freeze to death." Ela teased.

Valkyrie gave Ela a trembling middle finger. Ela stuck her tongue out at her and returned her attention to her art piece.

Ela put the finishing touches to her sketch. The sketch was of Meghan and Vanguard sitting around the red lamp under the stars. The low light glowed dimly against their figures. Their tired emotionless faces staring into the lamp's soft blood red light. The stars shined beautifully above the desert sand. Ela let out a sigh and closed her notebook.

"Elizabetha, if you don't mind me asking, what do you write in your notebook?" Vanguard asked

Ela put the notebook in her backpack.

"Nothing really. Just some drawings. Things that are on my mind." She said fixing the shemagh around her head.

"I'm assuming you went to art school at some point in your life from how well you drew that map."

"Yeah I went to art school in Berlin for a while."

"What's a talented artist like you doing in a dangerous place like this?"

Ela gazed up at the stars. She had no idea how to respond to his question.

"I don't know. Orders." Was all she could muster.

Vanguard gave a slow nod trying to get a read on her emotions.

"We've done some really screwed up things here so far. How are you guys doing after all of it?" Vanguard asked.

"Fine." Valkyrie lied.

"I'm alright I guess. When I joined Rainbow, I thought my time in performing sketchy acts like what we've been doing would finally end but clearly, I was wrong. How are you holding up?" Ela said frowning

"Peachy. This stuff doesn't bother me one bit."

"How do you do it?" Valkyrie interjected.

"Do what?"

"How do you perform the atrocities we just did and not feel anything? None of this stuff bothers you in the slightest bit?"

"Not at all Meghan. The Farm trained me that in warfare, only the strong survive. People who are weak die and are forgotten. Don't get me wrong, the weak have their purpose but the people who are strong enough and good enough to take what they need are the ones who prosper. There's no more room in this world for the weak. The people I've killed were weak. Their deaths were meant to be." Vanguard justified.

"I don't understand." Valkyrie said confused.

"Its okay. You'll understand soon enough." Vanguard said reassuringly.

He picked up his FMG 9 and kit.

"I'll take first watch. You two should get some rest. We have a lot of planning to do tomorrow."

And with that he walked into the night toward his lookout post.

Ela and Valkyrie retreated to their tents unsure of what to make of Vanguard's rhetoric.


	10. Part 3 Chapter 10

**Part 3 Chapter 10**

"Hey man, you got a light?"

"Yeah, here."

The two men stood in silence in front of a tent smoking their cigarettes.

"First time in country?" One man asked.

"Yeah, you?" The other said.

"Same."

Silence followed. The smell of cigarette smoke clung to the cold night air. The moon illuminated the night sky above bringing ambient light to the camp. The tent flaps at the entrance flapped freely in the cold breeze.

"Hey, thanks for the smoke brother. Have a goodnight." The one man said.

"Yeah you too." Said the other.

The one man walked away.

The other remained still standing in front of the entrance to the tent. The man looked at his watch and yawned.

A dark figure slowly took form from the darkness of the inside of the tent. It pulled out a suppressed pistol and pointed it at the back of the man's cranium from point blank range. The barrel almost tapping him in the back of his head.

"Welp, its getting la.."

His sentence was cut off the by what sounded like a tree branch snapping as brain matter flew everywhere. Some of the gory contents landing on the shadowy figure. The corpse fell backward toward the inside of the tent. The shadowy figure caught the body before it could hit the ground and make noise. The figure paused just inside of the tent concealed by the shadows with the dead body still in its arms listening and looking intently. The only noises that remained was the sound of the wind and distant conversation from other parts of the camp.

"Clear." Ela said and slowly placed the corpse down in the tent out of sight.

"Copy. I have a visual of you on cams." Meghan's voice softly whispered in her ear muffs.

Ela peered into the darkness and saw a faint blue light shining directly at her on top of a tall pile of wooden crates. She gave the blue light a friendly wave.

"Looks like most of the guys in this section of the camp are asleep. Proceed with caution." Valkyrie advised.

"Copy that. Changing positions." Ela whispered.

Valkyrie was sealed up in a different tent in the middle of the encampment watching her cameras on her phone. She scrolled through each one monitoring enemy movements as Ela moved through the encampment like a ghost. It was almost as if Ela had mastered Caveira's silent step. There was loud laughter from next to her.

Valkyrie dropped her phone and picked up her suppressed MPX and held it close to her body. She listened intently as footsteps moved past her tent. She glanced over at the pile of dead bodies she was accumulating in her tent. Both White Mask and IS of the like. She really didn't want to add any more bodies to her pile. When the footsteps subsided, she placed her MPX on her lap and went back to her cameras.

"Vanguard, sitrep."

"A lot of enemy activity on my end. I'm not going to make it to the boat launch in time, however, Captain Anderson is still in there planning God knows what. Ela, you'll have to go in alone." Vanguard whispered staring at the drone feed on his phone.

Vanguard's drone on his phone showed Captain Anderson shuffling through papers and writing things down on a notepad in a large office. After the team's 10 days of surveillance, they discovered that the White Mask were encamped around a boat launch on the lake. The White Mask used speed boats to effectively ferry large numbers of troops across the lake and up the Euphrates River into Ramadi. There was an abandoned brick Parks and Recreation building right next to the launch. Captain Anderson lived and worked on the second floor of the building.

Ela's journey toward the boat launch felt like an eternity. The camp was large, so she had a lot of ground to cover and the fact that she had to stop every couple of minutes because of White Masks walking by didn't make anything better. From the map that she had drawn, the route she was taking toward the boat launch was the safest due to the large amounts of cover she could use. After much patience and care she finally made it to the Parks and Recreation building. In front of the building pontoon speed boats were lined up on trailers ready for launch. Lights shined from the second floor of the parks building.

Captain Anderson must still be awake.

"Valkyrie I'm approaching the parks and rec building. Prepping for entry."

"Copy that. Stay frosty. Once you go inside I won't have eyes on you anymore."

Ela took cover behind one of the speed boats and observed the building, planning how she was going to get inside. People milled around the front of the building shooting the shit and smoking cigarettes.

 _Looks like the front isn't a viable option._

Ela stealthily moved her away around to the side of the building looking for a fire escape or window access. She hopped a fence and found herself facing the back of the building. The back section was only one story and cut off from the rest of the encampment. She saw a picnic table near the edge of the roof. She also noticed a window that was open leading to the second floor.

A light bulb went off in her head.

Ela walked to the picnic table. Once she was at the table she counted paces to the edge of the fence. She counted 15 paces.

 _Not much of a running start but I think I can make it._

Ela put her pistol in her thigh holster and loosened up cracking her knuckles and joints. She took a breath and dead sprinted for the picnic table.

The operators of Rainbow Six have admitted that Ela and Caveira were tied for the second fastest operators on the team. The fastest operator of the entire unit was Ash who could run like Usain Bolt. No one could ever beat her in a race.

Once Ela was in range of the picnic table she leapt on top of the picnic table and then while carrying her momentum leapt for the roof of the single-story section of the building. She reached out her hands midflight grabbing the edge of the roof. She found herself dangling in the air. With her strength she pulled herself up onto the roof.

Ela unholstered her pistol and crouch walked toward the open window.

"Valk. Vanguard. I'm in."

"Copy."

Ela peaked her head through the window looking down both ends of the hallway.

Nothing.

She lowered herself through the window into the hallway. At the end of the hallway she could see light shining through the crack of a door. She tip toed her way to the light. The door was half open and she could see Captain Anderson sitting at a desk working.

"Ela, Captain Anderson is at his desk working. He hasn't left the room yet. I'm gonna reposition my drone to the hallway and keep watch for you." She heard Vanguard say. Ela ignored the remark already one step ahead of the rest of her squad.

She twisted the dial on her radio turning it off. She didn't want her squad listening in what she was about to do the man when she interrogated him.

Ela released the magazine in her pistol checking her ammo. She slid the mag in satisfied with the number of rounds left in it.

She closed her eyes.

Took a deep breath in and exhaled.

With one quiet and smooth stride she entered the office with her pistol aimed at Captain Anderson. Anderson looked up at her smiling.

Before Ela could think, she felt sudden blunt force hit her in the back of the head knocking her to the ground. Her Scorpion Evo detached from her combat vest skittering across the floor.

Ela recovered when she hit the ground rolling onto her back and took aim with her pistol at the threat, but her weapon was immediately kicked out of her hand. A large muscular man wearing a White Mask towered over Ela blocking out the ceiling light above her. He raised his boot and stomped down on her skull knocking her out.

It felt like she was unconscious for only a brief second and suddenly she regained consciousness taking a gasping breath. Her nostrils were filled with the stench of ammonia.

The White Mask that smashed her head removed a smelling salt packet from beneath her nose. Ela struggled to her feet but couldn't find her balance. Her hands were zip tied. The White Mask picked her up by the collar of her jacket with unbelievable strength and dropped her in a chair. Ela stared at her boots trying not to make eye contact. She was in no condition to pick a fight. She noticed her thigh holster. Her weapons had been stripped of her except for the emergency grzmot mine she kept in her thigh holster.

 _Interesting._

She heard footsteps approach her from in front of her.

"Well, well, well. Look what the coalition forces brought in." Captain Anderson said. He had a deep slick voice.

He looked over to his muscular henchman.

"Thanks for the help by the way." He said to him.

His henchman gave a solid nod.

Captain Anderson stood over Ela.

"It's impolite to avoid eye contact." He said coldly.

Anderson smacked her baseball hat off Ela's head causing her long brown hair to fall onto her shoulders. Her radio earmuffs clattered to the ground with her hat. A small green light began to blink on one of the muffs.

Captain Anderson grabbed a fist full of her hair and yanked her head back, so she had no choice but to look at her.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you." He said angerly.

His pupils were pinpoint and wild with hatred.

He pointed a lamp into her face. Ela tried her best to squint through the light.

"Who are you?" He asked.

Ela looked at him blankly.

The White Mask henchman slugged her in the stomach making Ela double over and twist her neck in a weird way because Anderson was still gripping her hair.

"We'll try again. Who are you?"

She stared in silence holding her ground.

Anderson gave her an evil smirk and chuckled. He released her hair. He grazed his hand along her face down her shoulder to her hand feeling her smooth white skin. He picked up her fingerless gloved hand feeling her soft skin. Ela looked at him confused. The White Mask stared at him too also confused.

He tightened his grip on Ela's thumb and twist hard dislocating it. The crunching sound that came from her thumb was enough to make the muscular man gag.

Ela let out an ear-piercing scream. Tears streaked down her face as she looked at her thumb which was now severely deformed.

"Who are you?!" Anderson tried again this time shouting in her face. He already lost all of patience.

Again, Ela sat hyperventilating. Her eyes filled with a mix of pain. She felt pins and needles in her hand.

But she still kept her mouth shut.

"Stubborn." Anderson said moving to her next thumb.

Ela braced for next thumb to be dislocated.

Anderson gripped her thumb with an iron grip. Ela gritted her teeth and squeezed her eyes shut bracing for more pain.

She began to hear crackles and pops in the distance. She waited for the violent pull in her thumb to come but it never came. She opened her eyes. The crackles and pops caught his attention too. He stood in silence listening carefully.

She heard footsteps running for the office door which had been shut. It was followed by a pounding on the door. The White Mask opened the door. Another White Mask soldier stood in the door way.

"Sir, uhhh, we have a situation." The man in the door frame said nervously.

The crackling and pops began to pick up. Ela could hear voices shouting and the distant beating of chopper blades. She thought she heard an explosion from somewhere.

 _That's gunfire._

"It's the military sir. It appears they've found our encampment."

"The military?"

Anderson took a second to think.

"Have the men gather whatever they can carry. Pull the division out. Retreat back to the citadel."

"Yes sir."

Anderson closed the door and returned his attention to Ela.

"You're coming with us." Anderson pointing at her. He began to desperately gather his maps and paperwork stuffing it into a black door.

"Sir how did they find us?" The large masked man asked trying to help him.

"I don't know."

There was another knock on the door.

"Answer the door will you." Anderson commanded impatiently.

The White Mask opened the door.

It was followed by a clap of thunder.

The White Mask crumpled to the ground with his rib cage blown out. Captain Anderson pulled out a pistol aiming it at Ela's head.

Valkyrie stood in the door way pointing her Desert Eagle at Captain Anderson.

"Drop it or she dies." He said to her.

Ela pulled the long white string on her grzmot mine. It exploded knocking Anderson off balance. Valkyrie pulled the trigger. Her round impacted Captain Anderson in the forehead sending him flying backward.

Valkyrie rushed over to help her friend. Her face was covered in contusions and was slightly bloodied. Her left thumb was bent at an unnatural, sickening angle.

"Valkyrie…" Ela tried to speak.

"Don't talk." She said gently as she cut her friend's hands free.

"We needed… to… interrogate him." Ela managed to say through the mass amounts of pain as she stared at the now dead Captain Anderson.

"We don't have to. We have all the intel we need right here." She said stuffing all his paperwork and maps into her duffel bag. Once she collected all the paperwork she helped Ela to her feet. Ela put her sidearm in her holster and slung her Scorpion around her back. Ela clung on to Valkyrie for balance with her one good hand.

"We have to move. The military found us somehow." Valkyrie said helping her toward the door. The gunfire had picked up to a full-blown firefight outside. She could hear engines running. The White Masks were trying to make their escape by boat.

"Where's Vanguard?" Ela asked in a daze.

"I have no idea. He disappeared. I looked everywhere for him. I tried contacting him by radio. No answers."

The two operators walked down the stairs and out the front door. People ran in all direction scrambling for the boats. A helicopter hovered above the encampment a spotlight on the fleeing boats. American soldier had the encampment surrounded and were closing the distance on the remaining White Masks trying to escape.

"Damn they got out of here in a hurry." Valkyrie said. She could see the muzzle flashes from the American's weapons as they took pot shots.

An American took aim at Valkyrie as she guided her friend out the front door toward an empty pontoon boat. Valkyrie one handed her Desert Eagle and fired. She watched the American soldier collapse to the ground. She picked up Ela and laid her on the floor of the boat. Her head injury kept her anchored to the floor unable to move.

Valkyrie dragged the boat toward the ramp with all her strength moving it inch by inch. The Americans had breached the Parks and Rec building and we're clearing it out while the others were moving toward the launch shooting at the few remaining people dragging their boats into the water.

If she didn't move quick enough they'd be captured soon.

She pulled on the boat harder leading out a yell as she pulled. She made it down the ramp the boat slid down into the water. Valkyrie kicked the boat away from the ramp throwing her duffel bag and MPX in the boat as it rapidly floated away from her into deep water.

She dove into the water and swam toward the boat. Bullets impact the water all around her as she swam. Other escaping boats went up on plane and began their escape across the lake. She watched as the passengers on an escaping speed boat get shredded by the soldiers. Their bodies feel lifeless into the water turning it a dark brown. The Blackhawk helicopter shined its light on the boat launch partially blinding her as she swam for her boat. She heard a loud hiss move past her. She watched what looked like an RPG streak up into the night sky and impact the helicopter. It erupted into a fireball, spiraled into the water, and exploded again. The top of the water began to burn from the leaking fuel. Valkyrie made it beyond the chaos and climbed into her boat.

She started the engine and put the boat up on plane watching as the encampment began to shrink behind her. Most of the White Masks were able to escape as she saw groups of boats making their way toward the Euphrates River. She kept their distance but followed. They would take her back to Ramadi.

"You're going to be okay Liz. Hang in there." Valkyrie encourage her as she lay on the floor of the boat looking up at the stars as the world spun around her. The cool lake water mist sprayed her in the face. Valkyrie's voice and the hum of the engine began to fade as her vision fell into darkness. She took one last look at her dislocated thumb. She noticed it was her right thumb that was damaged.

 _Gowno. That's my writing hand._


	11. Part 4 Chapter 11

Part 4 Chapter 11

"Liz. Wake up. Liz. Wake up. Please wake up." Valkyrie pleaded while shaking her unconscious friend.

"Wha- what? Where are we?" Ela said confused. She couldn't recall what had happened to her.

"No time to explain we have to move." Valkyrie whispered impatiently.

Ela felt steady rocking back and forth. She smelt stagnant water. She felt Valkyrie's two strong hands grip the front of her tactical vest and pull her to her feet.

Ela groaned in protest.

Her head pounded. She clung to her friend for balance with her one good hand. She felt dizzy and lightheaded. Her thumb throbbed.

It was still night time and they were back in Ramadi. Valkyrie had run their boat ashore along the Euphrates River. The city was just up an embankment.

The sound of guns began to chatter in the distance making Valkyrie perked her head up to listen.

The weapons sounded familiar. M4 Carbines and AK-47s talking back and forth with each other.

And they sounded close.

"Stand right here." Valkyrie whispered and jumped off the boat. Her boots squished landing in muck.

Ela nodded her head acknowledging her friend's command but weakly sunk to her knees. She leaned her body against the side of the boat trying to her head to stop spinning. Standing by herself was too hard.

Her eyes began to feel heavy.

She felt herself passing out.

"Hey!" Valkyrie whispered tapping her shoulder.

Ela didn't react. She laid against the side of the boat not moving.

Valkyrie cursed in frustration. She reached for Ela's rifle and set it down on the ground near her.

"If you can hear me, at least raise you arms for me." Valkyrie commanded. Ela weakly reached her arms to be helped down. Valkyrie grabbed underneath her arms and pulled her out of the boat. Ela fell over the top of the boat causing Valkyrie to fall with her. They landed in a layer of muck. The force pushed their boat off the embankment and it began to float freely with the river's current toward the gun fire.

Valkyrie then watched in horror as streaks of light began to flash across the river impacting their boat 50 yards from their position. The tracer rounds shredded their boat to pieces. The boat sank quickly into the depths of the river.

That could've been them if they ventured farther up the river.

"Come on Ela." She said helping up her friend to her feet.

Ela grabbed her Scorpion and slung it around her back. She clung onto her friend with her one good hand for dear life. Now she was cold and covered from head to toe in mud.

The sound of gun chatter began to increase with intensity.

The two operators crept up the embankment and took cover behind a building in the shadows. US soldiers patrolled the streets with night vision probably searching for the surviving White Masks that fled into the city.

Valkyrie noticed an abandoned building across the street. They could use it as cover while she got her bearings. She waited for the US patrol to pass before moving. Once it was safe she gathered her injured comrade and the two crept across the street into the building.

Valkyrie walked Ela to the back of the building behind a counter and had her lean against the back wall where she quickly sunk down to the floor.

Valkyrie took cover behind the counter with Ela and pulled out a radio. She switched it to their team's secure frequency.

"Mother base this is Valkyrie do you read?" She whispered into the radio.

Silence.

"Mother base this is Valkyrie do you read?" She tried again.

Silence.

Valkyrie put the radio down in defeat.

Ela began to hear static in her headphones.

"Meg…" She said weakly pointing to her headphones.

Valkyrie put her radio close to her ear. There was a lot of static, but she began to make out a voice.

"Valkyrie… this is… I … you."

"Say again you're breaking up." She tried.

"This… Bandit… read… you." The voice said.

It was Bandit.

"Bandit! Thank god. Listen, we're in big trouble. I need you guys right now. Ela's hurt."

She glanced over to her friend. She passed out again.

"Where are… What happened?" His said still partially broken up.

"It's a long story. I'm somewhere in the city in an abandoned building along the Euphrates River. I'm surrounded by uniforms and in no condition to fight." She said agitated. She needed their help but couldn't direct them where to go.

"…triangulating position… stand…" Bandit replied. There was a moment of silence. Static in the radio and began to get louder and then it suddenly got softer after several minutes.

"Found you." Bandit said returning to the radio. "Can… hold… position?"

"We'll try to hunker down here. This place is crawling with uniforms though. Be very careful."

"Copy…. our way…" Bandit's voice said before cutting out.

Valkyrie let down her radio and tried to think. She looked around the building they were inside of. It looked like an old internet café. There were desks everywhere. Parts of the roof were caved in and there was destruction everywhere.

Valkyrie sat on the floor behind the counter with her back against the wall. Her suppressed MPX lay next to her. Ela shivering on the floor next to her. She picked up her unconscious friend and held her close in her lap to conserve body heat. Like Ela, she was covered head to toe in mud. She reached into her pack and pulled out a first aid kit. She gently looked at Ela's right thumb which was still bent at a painful angle enough to make Valkyrie sick to her stomach. She pulled out gauze and began to wrap her thumb. She felt Ela's body tense up when she began to wrap her thumb. Ela's eyes fluttered open she took in a sharp painful breath. She gnashed her teeth growling in pain. She tried swatting away her hand.

"Shhhhh. I know it hurts. I'm almost done." Valkyrie said trying to comfort her. She didn't have anything for the bruising or swelling on her face. It was enough for one of her eyes to become partially closed.

The operators sat on the floor listening to the wind howl between the buildings. Valkyrie never realized how tired she was until she sat down. She felt her eye lids getting heavy.

She drifted off to sleep.

A foot stepped on broken glass with a loud crunch. Valkyries eyes shot open at the sound.

 _We're not alone._

She glanced at Ela who was passed out cold. Valkyrie quietly rolled Ela off her and reached for her MPX. She squatted against the counter listening intently.

Maybe it was Bandit coming to save them.

Or maybe it was the military.

She wished she hadn't used all her Blackeye cameras that she brought with her to the desert. If she had one she would've put one out front to watch the entrance.

She heard more footsteps in the building. She could hear maybe 10. She saw red laser beams dance across the room searching for targets.

"Whiskey 2-3 moving through café. No signs of hostiles. Moving toward the back of the building." A young man's voice said.

 _Fuck, it's the military._

She looked around the room for a way out. There was a back hallway behind the counter but if she moved they would be made.

She needed a distraction.

She looked at Ela who laid face down on the floor motionless. She had a few grzmot mines on her vest.

That'll do.

She peaked her head over the counter. 10 American soldiers with itchy trigger fingers crept quietly through the room searching. They'd be upon her within seconds.

Valkyrie sorted her gear out preparing to run. She grabbed the drag loop on the back of Ela's vest. She detached a grzmot mine from Ela's vest and studied the device internally screaming.

 _HOW THE FUCK DO I USE THIS!?_ Her brain screamed. Ela had never showed her how to use her gadget and she never thought it would difficult to activate.

She tinkered with the device trying to arm it. She pulled a switch and the grzmot mine began to glow red and secreted a white foamy substance from one end.

 _Please God let this work._

She heaved the mine into the center of the room.

"What was that?" An anxious voice asked.

It was followed by a thunderous boom. Some of the soldiers collapsed screaming holding their deafened ears. Others began to shoot wildly at Valkyrie's position.

Valkyrie popped up and fired at a soldier trying to take her flank. She aimed to only wound. She didn't want to kill one of her own. The rounds impacted where the solder's body armor should be.

He fell ground in yelling "I'M HIT I'M HIT!"

"MAN DOWN MAN DOWN!" A soldier screamed reacting to his downed teammate.

Valkyrie grabbed Ela's drag loop and pulled her toward the hallway as fast as she could.

"HEY THEY'RE GETTING AWAY!" One soldier yelled.

She began to hear another soldier calling for backup.

Valkyrie paused and lifted Ela into a fireman's carry. She desperately tried to get away from her pursuers who were now chasing after her down the hallway and taking pot shots at her. She saw an exit sign at the end of the hall.

She kicked down the door and found herself in a dead end. She had nowhere else to run. She looked around desperately at the wooden fences surrounding her. A light from a lamp post shined above her head revealing who she way. She moved her shemagh over face to hide her identity.

"GIVE IT UP YOU'RE SURROUNDED!" A soldier called out to her. Valkyrie turned around slowly and saw 10 soldiers creeping toward her with their weapons trained on her. She backed away slowly until she felt herself bump into the wooden fence behind her.

"DROP THE GIRL, DROP YOUR WEAPONS, AND PUT YOUR HANDS WHERE I CAN I SEE THEM!"

She stood not complying. She looked at each of the soldiers. One had an impact mark in his Kevlar. Must've been the soldiers she shot. She was glad he was okay. Not so glad that now he was going to return the favor. She wondered if the soldier she had shot with her pistol at the lake was okay.

"I'M GOING TO COUNT TO THREE! IF YOU DON'T COMPLY, WE WILL KILL YOU!"

"1!"

She didn't react.

"2!"

She closed her eyes and began to pray. She slowly reached for her MPX dangling from her vest. Whatever happens at three, happens.

"3!"

Before the soldiers fired a glowing blue ball of light rolled out from between Valkyrie's feet. She noticed the Union Jack painted on the top of the grenade.

It exploded with a loud boom. The lamp above Valkyrie and the soldier's laser sights went dark leaving the alley pitch black.

Valkyrie felt a hand from behind her lift Ela off her shoulders. Then multiple hands grabbed her, and she was lifted off the ground and on to the other side of the fence. Beyond the fence was another alley leading to the streets.

"Flash out." A Texan voice said.

Thermite lobbed a flashbang over the fence.

It exploded into the darkness erecting screams from its victims.

"Move your asses." Bandit said impatiently with his MP7 covering their six. Valkyrie could barely make him out in his black and yellow jacket, black balaclava, and black riot helmet.

Thatcher had Ela in his arms.

The operators made a break for it navigating through the city streets with the US military searching right behind them. After what seemed like hours of evading the military and running they made it back to their safe house. The operators took shelter in the house and caught their breath.

"Good thing Elizabetha is as light as she is, or I would have never been able to carry her." He said placing Ela on their old sofa.

"My God, what happened to her?" Jordan said inspecting Ela's injuries. He looked at her dislocated thumb in disgust.

"White Masks tortured her for information. Girl stood strong and didn't say a word. Mike, if you could help me treat her wounds that would wonderful." Valkyrie said staring at her injured friend. She looked lifeless.

"Yes ma'am." He said and began to scrounge his rucksack for his trauma kit.

"Meghan, vhere's Vanguard? He should be vith you." Bandit said inquisitively.

"I honestly have no idea." Valkyrie said sheepishly.

The 3 men paused giving Valkyrie a glance like she had three heads.

"Vhat do you mean, you don't know?" Bandit continued.

"I have no idea where he went. He was with us in the encampment giving us intel and what not. Then things went south. I searched everywhere for him, I tried contacting him but received nothing."

Thatcher took out an ice pack and applied pressure to the swelling on Ela's head and face. Valkyrie knelt by Ela's side and began to patch any places she was bleeding. They'd save the relocation of thumb for last. Valkyrie talked as she worked.

"We discovered that Captain Anderson, the dude we had to interrogate for information, was holding up in a parks and recreation building next to a boat ramp. Turns out the White Masks were using speed boats to ferry their men across the lake and into the city."

"That's just details Valkyrie. What happened to Ela? What went south for you guys?" Bandit almost like he was interrogating her.

"It was the masks… I was collecting intel and guiding Ela through the encampment. Vanguard was helping too with his recon drone. When she made entry into the building I lost contact with her."

Valkyrie carefully removed Ela's earmuffs from her ears.

"These saved her life." She said tossing them to Bandit.

"Her radio?" Bandit inspected the ear muffs and tossed them to Thermite.

"Yes."

"How so?"

Valkyrie's face darkened.

"I heard her screaming. I heard the things they were doing to her. Masks must've forgotten to turn off her radio or something. She's extremely lucky to be alive right now. If her radio hadn't been on…" Her voice trailed off at what could've happened giving her chills.

Thermite turned the earmuffs in his hands. A small green light blinked signaling that the radio was turned on. He placed the earmuffs on their kitchen table.

"I don't understand how she got caught. She was stealthy through and through. I made sure no one was tailing her. There's absolutely no way she should've been caught. No way at all." Valkyrie said frustrated. She began to internally blame herself. Where did she go wrong to allow this to happen to her best friend?

"So, what did you do once you figured out she had been captured?" Bandit proceeded.

"I snuck to the building as quickly as I could. That's when the uniforms got involved."

This caught the operators off guard.

"Uniforms? They knew the location of the encampment? I thought it was a secret location? The fuck are the bloody yanks doing all the way out in the desert anyway?" Thatcher jumped into the conversation.

"Mike, I… I… I don't know. I just ran as quickly as I could while the Masks were busy with the military. That's when I lost contact with Vanguard. I looked everywhere. I tried. I really…"

The front door slammed open. The operators pulled their pistols pointing it at their foe.

"NO, NO, NO, NO STAND DOWN I'M FRIENDLY I'M FRIENDLY!" The man said with his hands in the air.

"Miles? What happened to you?" Valkyrie said astonished.

The operators stared at him waiting for an answer.

Vanguard found a seat and tried to find his words.

"Umm, it's a bit of a long story. When the military got themselves involved I went into radio silence. They were all around me and I didn't want to compromise myself. I managed to slip past them avoiding imminent capture. I made it back to our camp. I was able to get our camels and trek back to the city. I prayed to God you guys would make it through that attack." He explained.

"We were beginning to think you died or got captured." Valkyrie said sternly.

"Negative. I'm truly luck to be alive." He said giving her a weak style.

"Aren't we all." Valkyrie replied halfheartedly.

She wasn't sure if she should be mad at Vanguard or not. She could've used his help in extracting Ela. They barely made it out of there alive. But at the same time, he was surrounded by the enemy and was trying to avoid capture. If he would've gotten captured, then everyone in this room would probably be dead right now.

She didn't know what to think so she kept her attention on treating Ela.

Vanguard noticed Ela on the sofa. He approached her slowly.

"Elizabetha…" He said shocked by her sight.

"The masks tortured her Miles." Valkyrie said softly.

Vanguard knelt next to Ela and brushed a strand of her brown hair out of her face nurturing her. Her skin was cold. Her beautiful face swollen, cut, and bruised.

"Let's move her upstairs so we can relocate that thumb." Thatcher suggested breaking up the tension.

"Right. Jordan, help me." Valkyrie agreed.

Thatcher, Valkyrie, and Thermite carried their injured teammate upstairs to be further treated. Vanguard went to join them, but he felt a solid grip on his shoulder. It wasn't the same grip he had felt at Baghdad airport from Thatcher. It had more of a shady feel to it.

He turned slowly. Bandit stared at him with eyes filled with not hatred, but the longing to kill. He got closer to Vanguard sizing him up. Their noses were inches apart from each other. He stared through Vanguard's eyes like he could see into his soul. Bandit spoke in a soft but evil tone. Vanguard thought the devil was trying to talk to him.

"I don't know vhat truly went down in that encampment but there's some events that aren't adding up."

Bandit paused and jabbed a gloved finger into his shoulder.

"I'm watching you Miles."

Bandit walked past Vanguard bumping shoulders with him.

Vanguard turned to watch him walk upstairs to regroup with his team.

When Bandit was out of sight Vanguard softly chuckled to himself and went to find food.


	12. Part 4 Chapter 12

Part 4 Chapter 12

"Dominic, you're over reacting."

"Mike, I'm telling you, something isn't adding up with Miles."

Mike took a sip of tea and shook his head in disapproval.

"You still haven't listened to Elzbieta's side of the story yet, so it'd be in your best interest if you referred from jumping to conclusions and spreading rumors about your comrade."

Dominic sighed slowly stirring his tea.

"That's if Elzbieta even remembers what happened to her." Dominic muttered.

The two operators sat at the kitchen table in silence. They had the downstairs to themselves. Two days had passed since Valkyrie, Ela, and Vanguard returned from the desert. Miles and Jordan were somewhere in the city monitoring uniform activity while Meghan tended to Ela who was still recovering from her concussion and traumatic injuries. The two operators hadn't seen Ela since she was moved upstairs after her return. Dominic and Mike wanted to give her space to rest. Meghan had been giving them updates.

Mike and Dominic heard soft footsteps coming down the stairs.

"We'll continue this conversation another time." Mike whispered hastily.

Dominic nodded in agreement. The two men turned to see who was coming downstairs.

Low and behold, the Bosak Tempest carefully walked down each individual step. She appeared to be still struggling with her balance.

"Well look who it is!" Thatcher said with a big grin.

Ela managed a weak smile.

"Hi." She greeted them softly.

Mike got up from his chair and offered it to her. She sat down in the chair happy to be with her friends. Dominic gave her a smile and thumbs up from across the table. He eyed the damage done to her beautiful face. One half of her face was covered in an assortment of red, black and blue hematomas. The swelling on the one side of her face was gone so she was able to open her one eye completely. The sclera of the eye was a reddish black color instead of white from popped blood vessels in the one eye. Her bright green iris stood out against the ugly deep red background. Her other eye looked normal. Despite her one eye looking badly injured it hadn't affected her eyesight at all. Her right hand was in a cast.

Ela felt eyes staring at her. She lowered her baseball hat over her eyes using the brim to hide away her damaged appearance.

"Food?" Dominic offered to her.

"No thank you."

"You good?" Mike asked gently putting a hand on her shoulder. Her body flinched away at the body contact. Mike immediately lifted his hand as if in surrender.

"Yeah. Yeah." She muttered.

"Where's Meghan at?" Thatcher asked.

"Still asleep."

Dominic grabbed an MRE from his rucksack and quietly ate. Mike went back to enjoying his tea time. Dominic crafted his mediocre dish and ate quietly. He looked up at Ela who was staring into space.

"Elzbieta?"

"Yes?"

"I know you're trying to recover from your injuries and all, but I have to ask. Can you tell me what happened at the White Mask encampment in the desert?"

Mike lowered his tea glaring at Dominic, which he ignored.

The question struck a chord in Ela. She looked away from him embarrassed.

"Dominic. I'm sorry. But I don't remember and besides, I really don't want to talk about it right now." She said sheepishly.

"Are you sure? Anything at all? The mission details aren't adding up Elzbieta." Bandit said pushing her.

"That's enough Dominic." Mike growled.

"Seriously you guys? You're just going to let this slide?" Dominic said raising his voice and throwing up his hands in frustration.

Mike felt his patience being tested.

"Dominic stop acting like a muppet and let it go!" Mike said angrily.

Ela cupped her hands over her ears and squeezed her eyes shut trying to drown out their words.

"Vanguard didn't do anything wrong Dominic, if that's what you're trying to pursue. He was thinking about the mission. I'd trust Vanguard with my life if it came to it. You weren't even there so, who are you to judge? Now drop your attitude now… or I'll drop you right where you are." A voice said from behind Dominic.

The men sat hushed at the table.

Bandit slowly turned his head to see Meghan standing behind him menacingly. She had a murderous look in her eye. The kind of look she gave when she was ready to inflict violence upon a terrorist dumb enough to try and harm her. Dark circles hung below her eyes. Her blonde hair was a mess. Her once bronzed colored face was pale. From the looks of her she hadn't slept since she returned from her mission in the desert. Probably so she could monitor Ela continuously.

Dominic turned back to the table and shotgunned the rest of his tea in one gulp. He slammed his cup on the table making Ela jump in her seat. He stood up and approached Meghan meeting her eye to eye. Their faces inches apart from each other. Meghan stood her ground as Dominic began to tower over her. He was three inches taller than she was.

"Was that a threat Miss. Castello?" Dominic muttered to her.

Meghan didn't say a word.

The two operators stood mean mugging each other waiting to see who would throw the first punch.

Dominic wasn't intimidated by Meghan. Her strength and the fact that she was a frogman meant nothing to him. If Meghan wanted to exchange blows with Dominic, then he would gladly participate holding nothing back.

He had learned over time that it didn't matter who they were, male or female, friend or enemy; never put up with anyone's bullshit.

Meghan had the same mentality.

Meghan balled her fists. Her knuckles turning white.

Mike stood ready to spring into action if the operators lost their cools. He didn't want to jump in right away. They were adults after all. He wanted to see if they could talk it out by themselves.

A few seconds of silence passed between Meghan and Dominic.

"Alright I'll drop it. Maybe this place has me on edge or something." Dominic said and walked past her.

"Yeah, just a little." Valkyrie hissed back at him.

Despite not appreciating Dominic's attitude Meghan would forget her confrontation after she cooled down. Dominic was just being his usual, over protective self. Meghan understood he was only trying to look out for her because he cared about her. He just needs to understand when to lay off a little bit.

The front door opened to their apartment. Miles and Jordan filed into the apartment shutting the door behind them. Dominic and Miles walked past one another exchanging a brief look of distrust toward one another.

"What's going on here?" Jordan asked feeling tension in the room.

"Just some conversation." Mike said covering for his two teammates.

Miles and Jordan disregarded the purposely vague answer and stripped off their combat gear.

Meghan took a seat next to Ela.

"You should be resting." She said pointing a finger at Ela.

"I want to go through the intel we collected from the encampment." Ela said ignoring what Meghan had said to her.

"Alrighty. If you're up to it. I honestly think you should be resting."

Miles passed a large pile of documents to Meghan. The operators gathered around the table observing the documents. Meghan started the briefing.

"After our fiasco at Lake Habbaniyah, we were able to successfully ice Captain Anderson and obtain intel to plan our next move. The original plan was to interrogate the Captain but…" Valkyrie looked at Bandit who was now sitting at the far end of table. "…things went south so we improvised accordingly."

Dominic rolled his eyes.

Meghan spread out the documents and maps across the table. The documents consisted of plans for future attacks, troop movements, locations of enemy encampments, and other dispatches.

"While listening to Captain Anderson's conversations, he brought up a location called the Citadel. He actually commanded his units to retreat there when the uniforms attacked us." Meghan said pointing to a building on one of Anderson's maps. It was large structure located near the city center. It was circled in red marker labeled, "Cit."

"I have reason to believe that this is where the king pin of the White Mask operation is holding out and if he didn't know that we're hot on his trail before, he surely knows now. We need to move in on this target before the Masks torch and burn the place." Meghan said trying to sound persuasive.

The operators sat in silence pondering their options.

"How do you know that the Citadel is the center of their operation?" Thermite asked.

"Look at the documentation." Ela interjected sorting through the documents. "All of them refer to the citadel, have come from the citadel, or eventually made their way to the citadel. The Citadel is the center of the universe for these guys. Someone in that building is calling shots to these persons in charge out in the field. Meg and I have seen this during Orange Sky. This is a complex embedded terror network we're dealing with and we know where the ring leader is. This is a once in lifetime opportunity for us to put an end to this op."

"What if our prediction is wrong? What if the Citadel is a bust and don't find the ring leader?" Mike asked.

"Regardless if we find the ring leader or not it'll still be worthwhile to check it out. I guarantee you we find the ringleader or intel on the ringleader's whereabouts. I also agree with Meghan on this. We need to hit this location hard and fast. After the military's interventions on their secret encampment by the lake I'm sure the Masks are packing up their stuff to change locations. If we lose them then we'll probably never find them again."

The operators sat in silence thinking to themselves.

"If we pull this off and kill the ringleader, then we get to go home. We're so close to finishing this." Ela added.

The joy of returning to England brought satisfaction to the operators.

"I say let's do it." Jordan said breaking the silence.

"I'm in." Mike added.

The operators turned to Dominic.

"If pulling this mission off gets me the fuck home, then I'm in." Dominic said with a smile.

They all turned and stared at Miles.

"Sure." He said with a flat tone of voice.

"Then its settled. I say we attack this place tomorrow. We can construct our plan tonight. Sound okay?" Thatcher said.

The operators nodded in agreement.

"Wait…" Bandit murmured.

"What is it mate?"

"How are we going to operate in a building that we have no idea what the layout looks like or what's inside since we're not taking a few days to do some recon?"

Mike and Jordan exchanged looks with each other and laughed at Dominic's comment.

Dominic, Ela, and Meghan exchanged confused looks with each other.

Jordan cleared the confusion.

"This is the difference between us blue team operators and you orange team operators. Every time we do a 5 vs 5 training session, the blue team has no idea what the layout of the map is going to be nor, do we know what you orange team guys have planned for us. We go in blind on every training op having no idea what we're up against. Going into hostile environments blind folded is what Thatcher and I do for a living Dominic. Trust us."

Mike gave Jordan a nod of agreement.

"Well please tell me you at least have your drones." Meghan added to the concern.

"Yes, we brought our drones. Its all we have for intel collection. I'd never leave home without it." Jordan said placing a small black remote-control drone on the table.

"Well at least we have those." Dominic said with a sigh of relief.

"We should conduct the op at dusk. Minimize civilian casualties and unwanted uniform involvement." Mike suggested.

"Agreed. Mike and I can start by droning out the objective. Once we have the place scouted out, we'll make our assault. Since this looks like a multiple story structure we can divide and conquer each floor. Collect any intel we can find. Find the ringleader if possible and take him down. Extract immediately."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Thatcher put a hand on Ela's shoulder. She didn't flinch this time.

"Elzbieta, you should probably sit this one out. You're not healthy enough fight." Mike suggested.

"Mike, there's no well in hell I'm missing this. I'm coming no matter what. You can't stop me." Ela said to him confidently.

Mike sighed. There was no use in arguing because he knew he'd surely lose.

"Okay. But we'll be keeping a close eye on you. If we see any sign of health instability, then you're gone. We clear?"

"Crystal."

The operators studied maps and the outside of the building through satellite imaging. They prepped all the little nitty gritty details having no idea what was waiting for them inside. The preparation lasted for hours as each operator took notes of the roles they would be playing, hot extract, possible points of entry, etc. By the time they had completed analyzing all the intel it was getting dark.

The operators retreated to their sleeping quarters eager to conduct the mission.

Valkyrie took a knee by her sleeping bag. Before she went to bed she liked to take a second and talk to God. She was raised Catholic and she liked to say a quick prayer before bed. She prayed for tomorrow's mission to go well.

She prayed she'd see her father again, so she could give him a big hug.

She prayed that Elzbieta Bosak would be allowed to see her niece again to ease her pain and suffering.

She prayed that Mike Baker would return home to his wife and son that he missed dearly.

She prayed that Jordan Trace would return to England, so he could continue to blow stuff up in his chemistry lab and maybe build up the nerve to finally ask her friend Eliza Cohen out.

She prayed that Miles Almasi would help keep her squad safe on mission.


	13. Part 5 Chapter 13

Part 5 Chapter 13

It was turning to dusk in Ramadi, Iraq. The Islamic call to prayer could be heard echoing through the empty city streets as the 6 operators filed out of their apartment. The operators wore their usual battle dress that they normally wore to their trainings back at Hereford.

Thatcher was even wearing his gas mask today.

The operators silently maneuvered through the city streets and allies toward their target. Tension was high between them as they travelled. Stray dogs barked and picked at the large amounts of city trash. Street lights began to buzz to life illuminating the streets as the sun began to make its annual disappearance behind the horizon turning the clouds and sky a reddish orange color. The air felt hot and heavy. As usual, the city streets smelled horrible.

After 30 minutes of walking, the operators came to a small ordinary 3 story office structure. The operators stuck to the shadows of the alley they were in while Thatcher pulled out a picture of a satellite image of their target.

"This is it. Images lines up perfectly with this building." Thatcher said folding the map up and stuffing it back in his pants pocket.

They had found the Citadel.

According to the image, they were at the back of the building. There was a garage access with 3 White Masks milling around the garage keeping guard.

"Talley 3 tangos guarding the garage access." Thatcher whispered.

"I don't see anyone else. Let's take them out." Thermite suggested.

"Agreed. Do it quietly. Valkyrie pick a target with us."

Thatcher, Thermite, and Valkyrie lined up picking out their target.

"In position. On your mark Thatch." Valkyrie said. Her holographic sight settled on the side of a White Mask's head.

"Copy, 3-2-1, execute."

They each let loose one single suppressed shot dropping their targets. Their bodies hit the ground with a lifeless thud on the gravel pushing up a small puff of dust.

The operators waited, listening to their surroundings.

"Clear." Thatcher confirmed. He began to advance toward the garage. His teammates followed close behind him.

They lined up along the steel garage door.

"Drone spinning up." Thatcher said pulling out his recon drone. Thermite did the same.

The operators droned out the entire building calling out enemy targets and describing what they saw. The building wasn't very large, so it didn't take them long to complete the task and mark their enemies.

Thermite muttered a curse.

"What's wrong?" Ela asked.

"No sign of the leader." He said picking up his drone.

"Damn."

"Hey, mission still continues. Let's extract as much intel as we can. Maybe we can find where's the leader is hiding. Then we can make our next move." Valkyrie said to her teammates.

Thermite sighed.

"Looks like our vacation here lasts a few weeks longer." He said disappointedly.

Valkyrie rolled her eyes.

Thatcher laid out their game plan.

"Cut the chatter lads. Here's what we're going to do. Thermite make a big fucking hole in this garage door. Ela and Bandit clear out the garage. There're 5 hostiles waiting. Thermite and I will repel to the second floor and breach through the windows. Valk and Vanguard move to the third floor. I saw a room filled with computer servers. You should take a look at it Valkyrie. 8 hostiles are up there as well so be careful. Help Bandit and Ela clear the garage first. There's a staircase to the immediate left of the garage entrance. The stairs will take you to the third floor. Wait for my signal to breach."

"Understood. Thatcher, no EMP grenades. I don't want to run the risk of you knocking those computer servers offline." Valkyrie warned.

"Got it."

The operators moved to their positions.

"Big fucking hole coming right up." Thermite said with a grin while he unrolled his exothermic charge. No one took more enjoyment in blowing shit up than Thermite.

Bandit, Ela, Valkyrie, and Vanguard stacked up on the garage door near the charge. Ela prepped a grzmot mine to throw.

Thatcher and Thermite repelled to ta set of windows on the second floor. While Thatcher attached a breaching charge to the window Thermite prepped to throw a flashbang.

"Ready?" Thatcher asked into his comms.

"Affirmative." Bandit acknowledged.

"Thermite, hit it."

"Stand back its hot." Thermite whispered over the radio squeezing the trigger to his charge.

The exothermic charge hissed to life sending bright colored sparks around the outer perimeter of the charge. The operators shield their eyes from the bright light. They could hear panicked voices on the other side of the garage door.

Right before the exothermic charge exploded Thatcher kicked as hard as he could off the side of the building. When he began to swing in toward the window he detonated his breaching charge in correlation with the exothermic charge swinging through the now open window.

The exothermic charge exploded sending chunks of hot metal flying in all directions. Ela threw her grzmot mine into the garage. It detonated erecting screams from its victims. The explosion from the detonation of her mine made her head pound but the adrenaline helped her push past it.

Valkyrie pulled out a large block of nitro and primed the charge.

"DEPLOYING NITRO CELL!" She yelled and heaved it into the garage with ease as if she was throwing a hand grenade.

Bandit watched the block of nitro sail toward the other end of the garage next to 3 terrorists. The fact that Valkyrie could throw a very large block of nitro across a room like she was throwing a hand grenade was a testament to her superior physical strength and her creativeness as an operator. Bandit only knew 3 other operators who could barely do the nitro cell toss and that was Smoke before he started using impact grenades, Kapkhan, and Mira. But Valkyrie was the one who perfected the unique skill and was most well-known for it because it was her idea. The other operators with nitro had to preplace it because they couldn't throw it very far and blowing themselves up. Unfortunately, Bandit fell into that category.

"DETONATING NITRO CELL!" Valkyrie yelled. She pressed the talk button on an old Nokia phone. The nitro cell exploded vaporizing the 3 terrorists. The operators felt the concussion from the explosion reverberate in their diaphragms.

With one smooth stride Bandit moved through the new door and dropped a terrorist with his MP7. Valkyrie strode in behind Bandit.

"VALKYRIE, BACK LEFT CORNER!" Ela called out unable to get a clear line of sight as she was filing in through the hole in the garage door.

Like a machine, Valkyrie snapped to the last terrorist who was about to squeeze the trigger of his rifle and squeezed off a 3-round burst to his center mass. The terrorist fell backward along the wall. His white hockey mask fell off revealing his bloody lifeless face.

"ICED!" Valkyrie called out as she continued to clear the garage.

"Garage clear. Valkyrie. Vanguard. Move to third floor. Ela and I can handle it from here.

"Copy. Moving. Let's go Vanguard." Valkyrie acknowledged.

Valkyrie and Vanguard moved up the stairs toward the third floor. As they passed the second floor, they could hear Thatcher and Thermite taking care of the terrorists in their room. When they reached the top of the stairwell Vanguard unclipped a flashbang.

He looked at Valkyrie. She looked back at him.

"Do it." She said.

"FLASH OUT!" He yelled and tossed it into the hallway. The flash grenade exploded.

Valkyrie stepped into the third-floor hallway and dropped 4 blinded terrorists. The 4 other terrorists poured out of the server room and were immediately gunned down by Vanguard. The 2 operators stacked on the door to the server room.

The two operators met each other's eyes.

"Again." She said.

"FLASH OUT!" He yelled and tossed a flashbang into the room. After it exploded Valkyrie stepped inside sweeping her MPX back and forth in search of threats. No one was inside.

A desk with a computer sat near the far wall facing the door.

Vanguard camped by the door way covering Valkyrie's six.

"Vanguard I'm going for the computer. Cover me."

"You do your thing. I'll cover you from out here." He said giving her a thumbs up. He walked out of the room back into the hallway.

Valkyrie tossed her MPX on the desk and plopped in the rolling chair behind the desk. She wiggled the mouse and the computer hummed to life. She took an external hard drive and plugged it into a USB port. She began to download all the files on the computer. She didn't have time to go through each individual file. They could do that when they returned to their base. As the files downloaded she poked through the computer.

"Valkyrie this is Thatcher. 1st and 2nd floor is clear. What's your status?"

"We're all clear on the 3rd floor. I'm downloading files from the servers up here. Going to take a few minutes."

"Copy that. We're going to establish a perimeter down here. Come down when you're all done."

"Copy that."

"Make it quick you two. I don't like this. For the White Mask base of operations there was barely any security. I was expecting to meet a beefier resistance." Bandit interrupted on comms.

Valkyrie rolled her eyes at Bandit's paranoia.

Valkyrie noticed a messaging app on the computer. She opened it revealing a chat room. She opened the chat room. She began to download the conversation into the hard drive. While it downloaded she flipped through the conversation. The user on the other end of the messenger was named, "Anonymous." She started looking through messages from months ago. Anonymous gave orders for troop movements, attacks, supply exchanges, etc. From the messages Anonymous is clearly the person running the White Mask operation in Ramadi.

But where is he hiding?

She started to read conversations from recent when they first deployed to the city. The messages began to irk her.

Anonymous: Mission is a go. Target Romeo has landed, and I've made successful contact. Wait for further instructions.

Citadel: Copy

She scrolled through more messages.

Anonymous: Target Romeo taking shelter in building 235. More intel to come.

Citadel: Copy

She continued to scroll.

Anonymous: Romeo has set up multiple lines of reconnaissance in the market place. They'll be looking for you guys out there so stay frosty. These people are not to reckoned with. Extremely dangerous. Is the boy ready?

Citadel: Copy that. The information will be relayed to the IS. Yes, he is ready. He is willingly helping our cause. Explosives will be set too.

Anonymous: Is the IS in position?

Citadel: Yes, and so is the boy.

Anonymous: Kill as many Americans as possible. Send a message. Romeo will be mixed in with the crowd so keep your eyes open.

…

Anonymous: Commence attack.

She scrolled to when they were in the desert.

Anonymous: I've relocated to a site near our base in Lake Habbaniyah. Romeo plans on assaulting the base for intel. I'll send more information later. Inform the Captain. Start moving troops and equipment out of the campsite.

Citadel: Copy. It will be done.

…

Anonymous: Romeo is attacking. I've revealed the campsite's location to my military contacts. They'll be arriving in time to mess up Romeo's plans. Tell the Captain part of Romeo has entered the compound and is about to take him hostage.

Citadel: Copy. What about you, sir?

Anonymous: I'm already making a run for it by foot don't worry.

Valkyrie leaned back in her chair in complete shock. She looked up building 235 in Ramadi and sure enough it was the apartment building her team had been using as a hide out.

They'd been sold out.

Someone had been watching them the entire time. Hiding in plain sight feeding the enemy with intel on their every move.

She turned to the messenger and began to type a message.

Citadel: Anonymous? Do you read?

She hit the enter key and the message sent. She sat in silence listening.

 **DING**

She heard a phone go off in the hallway.

Valkyrie hurtled the desk and grabbed her MPX.

She aimed her MPX at the door but was met by giant blinding white smoke plume.

She inhaled the fumes and felt all the oxygen leave her body. The fumes were toxic. She felt as if a truck had parked itself on top of her chest. Her heart began to race so fast she thought it was going to explode. Her skin felt as if someone had set her on fire. She felt her muscles lock up until her body was frozen solid. She began to lose feeling in her extremities. She beckoned her body to move but it refused. She tried to scream but her body wouldn't follow her brain's commands. She stood in the middle of the smoke plume frozen solid with her MPX trained head height at the doorway in front of her.

 _MEGHAN! MOVE! PLEASE! YOU'RE SUFFOCATING! GET OUT OF THERE!_ Her conscience screamed. But her body disobeyed.

She heard footsteps casually walking toward her as the plume began to disperse. She could make out a silhouette moving through the smoke. He hummed a happy tune as he walked. It almost sounded like Jail House Rock from her dream.

The smoke finally cleared, and Vanguard came into view smiling.

Her holographic sight was trained right on his forehead.

All she needed to do was pull the trigger. It takes 3 muscles to pull a trigger…

but not a single one of hers would move.

Vanguard placed a finger on the barrel of her MPX and gently lowered it down, so it wasn't trained on his skull. He gave an evil chuckle staring at the frozen Navy SEAL. He began to pace in front of her.

"I really didn't want things to have to come to this, but you left me no choice. You know what this stuff is, right?" He said with an evil slickness to his voice.

Valkyrie stared straight ahead completely paralyzed. Vanguard waited for her to answer despite already knowing she wouldn't be capable of answering.

"It's VX gas! A pretty lethal amount too. I gave myself the antidote beforehand, so I'll be fine. VX gas can do wonders to the nervous system such as leaving your body unable to function or control itself. Cause extreme pain and bunch of other nasty things. It's okay though, it'll all be over soon." Vanguard said reassuringly to Valkyrie.

He placed a hand on her twitching shoulder and flashed her a genuine smile.

"Well done Meghan! You did it! You found the… what did you call it… the 'ringleader?' Right? Of the White Masks. And you and your squad didn't disappoint!"

Vanguard began to circle Valkyrie as he spoke like shark hunting its prey.

"You violated international peace treaties as well the Geneva convention. You killed Americans and innocent civilians. Really bad stuff. Probably enough to sentence you to life in prison on war crimes. That's if the court decides not to give you the death penalty. I have all your atrocities documented, recorded, and accounted for. Man, it would be a real shame if the media got a hold of what I got. Rainbow Six would be finished! The media would have a field day with you guys." He said chuckling at the thought.

"Your unit would be forcefully shut down by a coalition. All of your fellow operators and your beloved chairmen would be tried and convicted for their atrocities. You see, no anti-terror unit was able to defeat the White Masks before 2015. We had the world by the balls! Then Rainbow Six entered the picture. We started to encounter one set back after another. We couldn't beat you guys! We needed to get rid of you or our network would be finished. Now that Rainbow has played themselves to their own demise, the White Masks can assert their control on the world once again!"

Vanguard stopped in front of Valkyrie and placed both is hands on her shoulders and lightly squeezed.

"Thank you for your sacrifice to the White Mask cause. Our victory couldn't have been achieved without your team's sacrifice. Now the White Mask can bring order to this world!"

His expression and tone of voice went from being smooth to dark and filled with pure evil.

"Meghan, do you remember that night we spent in the desert by the White Mask encampment?"

Valkyrie's mind flashed back to that cold night in the desert with Ela and Vanguard.

" _How do you perform the atrocities we just did and not feel anything? None of this stuff bothers you in the slightest bit?"_

" _Not at all Meghan. The Farm trained me that in warfare, only the strong survive. People who are weak die and are forgotten. Don't get me wrong, the weak have their purpose but the people who are strong enough and good enough to take what they need are the ones who prosper. There's no more room in this world for the weak. The people I've killed were weak. Their deaths were meant to be." Vanguard justified._

" _I don't understand." Valkyrie said confused._

" _It's okay. You'll understand soon enough." Vanguard said reassuringly._

Valkyrie snapped back to reality.She finally understood what he meant on that night.

"Meghan in this world I play God. I decide who lives and who dies. I ensure that only the strong survive. You've served your purpose. Now you're alone. And your weak. And as I explained to you in the desert, you know what I do to the weak. This is nothing personal, it's just what I do. Your weakness is why you're failure." He said harshly. The words cut through Valkyrie like a hot knife through butter.

Vanguard put two fingers on Valkyrie's forehead and pushed her backward. She fell landing on her back. Her MPX skittered across the floor. Valkyrie laid on the cold dirty floor staring at the ceiling lights which appeared to be getting brighter and brighter with every passing second. She could hear Vanguard's footsteps as he left the room leaving her alone and afraid.

She could also hear Thatcher's voice through her comms.

"Valkyrie, this is Thatcher what's your status?"

"Valkyrie, this is Thatcher what's your status?"

"Vanguard, this is Thatcher what's your status?"

"Vanguard, this is Thatcher what's your status?"

She tried to scream for help, but she couldn't move her mouth to make words. Her lungs felt like that had completely closed themselves off. The burning pain on her skin began to grow as time passed. A soft ringing sound slowly began to build in her ears as the intensity from the lights began to white out her vision. She could feel herself going bradycardic.

 _No! I don't want to die! Please God let me live! I have to help my friends! I don't want to go! I'm scared! I'm not ready! I DON'T WANT TO DIE!_ She screamed internally.

She descended into the white light unwillingly.

…

Meghan found herself in a place of nothingness. She was still in her full battle attire. Everything was around her was white. She found that she could move her body again, but the burning pain still radiated throughout her entire body withering her down.

She also felt strangely cold on the inside too.

Meghan tried her best to let her SEAL instincts kick in and ignore her feelings. Despite not knowing where she was she did her best to keep her composure.

"Its okay Meghan. Please don't be afraid sweetheart." A soothing voice whispered to her.

She turned around and saw her mother standing before her.

Her mother's expression looked pained.

The fact that her daughter was with her at such a young age concerned her.

"Mom?" Meghan muttered. Meghan couldn't believe her eyes. She was finally meeting her mom.

"Hello Meghan. Last time I saw you before I died you were just an infant." Her mother responded managing to crack a smile.

Meghan's expression melted into anger.

"This isn't okay Mom. Miles was right. I'm a failure. I'm weak. I let everyone I hold dearly down. I guess my life was always supposed to end this way." She said bowing her head in defeat. Images of her father and her friends danced in her mind upsetting her.

Her mother didn't speak. She silently approached her daughter and stopped a foot away from her. Like there was an invisible wall preventing her from moving any closer to her.

Meghan felt a sharp pain in her heart. All of her emotions hit her at once. The pain, the suffering, the sadness, the stress, the guilt, the regret, the people that she missed dearly, the horrible things she did to other people, every emotion that she had been keeping bottled up inside of her released all at once.

Meghan reached out her hands and stumbled forward. Before she could hit the ground, her mother caught her in her arms. Meghan burrowed her head in her mother's shoulder sobbing uncontrollably. Her mother held her tightly stroking her blond hair.

The pain in Valkyrie's body subsided. She began to feel warmth inside of her. She felt as if she could breath easier.

"I'm… sorry…your daughter… was… weak… and a failure…" Meghan muttered between sobs.

Her mother rocked her back and forth holding on to her daughter as tight as she could.

"Its okay to cry sweetheart. You're not weak. You're not a failure. I watched you grow into the extortionary woman you are now. You never gave up on anything. Your carry the same fighting spirit your father carries. I'm so proud of everything you've accomplished Meghan. I love you so much." Her mother whispered soothingly kissing the top of her head.

Meghan's mother had been waiting decades to hold her daughter again.

But this moment felt so wrong to her on the inside.

Her mother never wanted her daughter to end up like this at such a young age.

It wasn't fair.

She wanted her daughter to a live a full happy life.

Her daughter was way to young to be taken. She had so much to live for. She'd miss finding a husband, getting married, having children, being with her friends and growing old with her loved ones.

Instead, her daughter's life was cut short by someone she thought she could trust.


	14. Part 5 Chapter 14

Part 5 Chapter 14

"Valkyrie?"

"Vanguard?"

"Anyone out there?"

Ela called out as she crept up the stairs with her weapon at the ready. Bandit followed close behind her.

They reached the top of the stair and moved into the third-floor hallway. Bodies and blood splatters were scattered in the hallway.

The floor was uncomfortably quiet.

"I'll check the server room. You clear the rest of the floor." Ela said through sign language.

Bandit acknowledged the order and pushed down the hallway.

Ela stacked up on the door to the server room by herself and walked slowly inside.

"Blue on blue, don't sho…"

Ela felt as if someone slugged her in the stomach.

Before her laid her best friend. Not moving.

"Meghan…"

She dropped her Scorpion to the ground and ran to her friend's aid.

She felt for a carotid pulse and if she was breathing. Neither could be found.

"DOMINIC! DOMINIC! HELP ME! I NEED HELP!" She frantically screeched.

Ela ripped off Meghan's combat vest and started chest compressions.

Bandit sprinted down the hallway toward the server room. He strode into the room with his weapon at the ready to take down any threats but the sight he saw instead made his heart jump into his throat.

"Jesus Christ…"

Bandit reached for his radio and keyed up on his comms.

"Thatcher. Thermite. I need you third floor server room stat."

Bandit watched as Ela frantically gave compressions. She had a look of absolute fear in her eyes. He'd never seen her like this before.

Bandit knelt across from Ela and felt for a pulse and if she was breathing which he couldn't find any signs. He took off one of his black gloves and felt Meghan's forehead. Her skin felt ice cold and was a sickly white color. Her finger nails were cyanotic. Her eyes stared at the ceiling.

"DOMINIC DON'T JUST STAND THERE! START RESCUE BREATHS!" Ela to Bandit impatiently.

Bandit gently placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Elzabieta…"

"FUCKING HELP ME DOMINIC!" Ela screamed.

"Elzabieta… she's gone."

Ela stopped her compressions and broke down into tears. She cradled her best friend in her arms. She let out a blood curdling scream. A scream of sadness and anger.

Bandit sunk his head down in defeat fighting back tears.

Thermite and Thatcher rushed into the room and were shocked to see what lay before them.

Thermite stood frozen at the door way. He looked like he couldn't catch his breath.

Thatcher approached Ela who was on the floor cradling Meghan's lifeless body in her arms.

The sight made Thatcher nauseous.

"Thatcher, there's no sign of Vanguard anywhere." Thermite muttered.

"Mike… what did I tell you about Miles?" Bandit said to Thatcher who was still staring at Meghan.

"Dominic…" Thatcher tried to speak but Dominic interrupted him. He stood up and exploded into rage no one had ever seen before. He got into Thatcher's face jabbing a finger into his shoulder as he spoke.

"I FUCKING TOLD YOU SOMETHING WAS WRONG WITH HIM! GOD FUCKING DAMN IT! NONE OF YOU LISTENED TO ME! IF YOU WOULD HAVE FUCKING LISTENED INSTEAD OF DEFENDING HIM THEN MAYBE MEGHAN WOULD STILL BE ALIVE! FUCK!"

Bandit punched the wall. His arm went through the drywall creating a large crater.

"Dominic, stop it." Thatcher commanded.

Before Bandit could talk back the office phone on top of the desk by the computer began to ring making the operators jump.

Thermite walked cautiously over to the phone and looked at the caller I.D.

It read, "unknown caller."

He noticed an extra wire tracing out of the back of the telephone and along the wall. It didn't look like a normal wire. He traced the wire to the computer server cabinets.

Inside the cabinets were stacks of C4.

"Bomb." He said to his teammates.

They didn't react. They stared at him like he was speaking a different language.

"BOMB! GET CLEAR, GET CLEAR!" Thermite screamed ran for the door.

Dominic stood up hesitating as if he was lost and didn't know what to do. Thermite shoved Bandit out the door as he ran.

Thatcher ran for the door. She turned around to see Ela who was still on the floor with Meghan in her arms crying.

"ELA COME ON!" He shouted at her.

"WHAT ABOUT MEGHAN?!"

"WE HAVE TO LEAVE HER! NOW MOVE YOUR ASS!"

"NO! I'M STAYING! I'M NOT LEAVING HER!"

Thatcher ran back into the room and grabbed Ela by the back of her tactical backpack and dragged her out of the room.

"NO! DON'T FUCKING TOUCH ME! LEAVE ME BE!" Ela screamed as she thrashed around violently.

She managed to break free from Thatcher's grip.

Ela ran back to her friend and quickly removed her dog tags, untied her shemagh, and took her Desert Eagle. She put the items in her pack and looked at her best friend one last time. She carefully closed Valkyrie's eyes to make it look like she was sleeping.

"I'm sorry Meghan. Rest easy now." She whispered in her ear and kissed her forehead shedding more tears.

"Ela. Let's go." Thatcher said almost begging.

Ela wiped her tears away and ran out of the room picking up her Scorpion along the way.

Thatcher turned his back and was about to head down the hallway when he stopped. He turned and ran back into the server room.

The computer.

Thatcher hurtled over the desk and looked at the computer.

The screen read, "download complete."

Thatcher looked around the computer and found Meghan's external hard drive plugged into the computer. He put the drive in his vest and headed for the door.

Before he left the room he quickly knelt next down next to Meghan and held her hand in his.

"I know you'll never find peace until Miles is held responsible for what he did to you. I will not rest until Miles is brought to justice… I promise."

He took in a sharp breath.

"I guess this is goodbye."

He released her hand which fell lifelessly to the ground.

He lived by one simple rule. No promises in combat.

But this was a promise that needed to be made to avenge his fallen comrade.

Thatcher ran out the door and down the stairs. He ran through the garage and out of the breaching hole Thermite had created earlier. As Thatcher took his first step onto the outside gravel the building exploded behind him sending him flipping through the air.

Thatcher landed on his back staring up at the night sky. The building began to collapse behind him.

"MIKE!" Thermite yelled running to his rescue.

Thermite helped him to his feet.

"We need to get back to the apartment ASAP." Thatcher said as he struggled to his feet. They ran into an alley way where the rest of the squad was waiting. The surviving operators ran back to their apartment.

Ela looked back at the Citadel which was now a burning pile of rubble. She didn't know what to say or think.

She turned around and ran after her teammates who were about to leave her behind.

After several minutes of traveling the operators reached their apartment building only to find it burning to the ground.

"What's the plan?" Dominic asked staring at the destruction in front of him.

"We're getting the hell out of here. We'll have to trek back to Baghdad and then England. We need to talk to Six right away." Thatcher said.

"Let's move before someone spots us." Thermite suggested.

The operators melted into the shadow around them. They pushed on past their temporary home base and began their long journey back to Baghdad with the thought of Meghan eating away at their minds.

 **Weeks Later**

It was a rainy afternoon at Hereford Base. Maxim, Alexandr, Marius, Eliza, Craig, and Seamus trudged along the side of the street entrance to the base in the rain with all of their gear. They joked with each other after a long morning of training. Taina lurked behind them talking with her handler.

"Eliza, you really need to slow yourself. You'd find that you die a lot less in training." Seamus said poking fun at Eliza.

"Or maybe you need to speed up old man." She said punching him in the arm.

"But I'm not the one who set up off Kap's EDD and got gunned down by Alexandr while turning a corner."

Maxim and Alexandr laughed recalling the memory in their head.

Eliza pointed a finger at Seamus.

"Coming from the guy who got peaked by Mr. Toxicity over there 5 seconds into the 2nd round!" Eliza countered nodding over to Marius.

Marius innocently put his hands in the air.

"Its what I do." Marius said sheepishly.

Seamus could see Marius's shit eating grin beneath his balaclava.

A strange black sedan drove past the operators toward Six's building. It drove onto the curb and stopped.

"Uh what the hell was that?" Eliza asked staring at the vehicle.

"Let's check it out." Seamus said.

The operators jogged over to the strange car. The doors to the car opened and Thermite stepped out of the driver seat with Thatcher, Ela, and Bandit as his passengers.

"MIKE! You're back!" Seamus approaching to give his old friend a hug. Mike shoved him out of the way and walked toward the entrance of Six's building.

"What the fuck is your problem?" Sledge said as the 4 operators filed passed him. They all looked like hell. There clothes were battered and ripped as if they were wearing rags. They had dark circles under their eyes. Ela's hair had grown down to the middle of her back. Thermite and Thatcher had beards that would put Craig's to shame. They couldn't tell how Bandit looked because of his balaclava.

"Where's Six?" Mike asked.

"In her office… but she's busy in a meeting with some diplomat at the moment. Where's Meghan? I thought she went with you?" Eliza said with a look of concern.

"Good." Mike said and pushed his way through the double doors of Six's building ignoring Eliza's question. Mike's squad followed his lead leaving the other operators behind wondering what was going on.

The 4 returning operators filed up the stairs toward Six's office.

Thatcher opened the door to Six's office without knocking. A man in a suit sitting across from Six's desk turned around.

"Excuse me I'm in a… Mike… you guys are back." Six said surprised.

"Yes, yes we are." Mike said sternly.

"I see you brought a party." She said motioning at the other operators behind him.

Mike approached the diplomat from behind and yanked him out of his seat by the collar of his shirt.

"What the… Six what is the meaning of this…" The man mumbled.

"Sorry chap. We'll only be a minute." Mike said and pushed him out the door.

Jordan slammed the door behind him.

"Where's Meghan?" Six asked glancing at the group of operators as if she were hiding behind them.

There was an awkward silence amongst the operators.

A tear trickled down Ela's cheek.

Six saw her tears. She leaned forward in her chair. Mike looked at Ela. She hadn't spoken to anyone since Meghan's death.

"She's didn't make it." Ela muttered. Ela took a step forward toward Six's desk. She reached out a trembling hand holding Meghan's dog tags. She left her hand out so Six could take them from her.

Ela's words stung everyone in Six's office. Six stared down at her feet taking in the bad news. She couldn't believe it.

Six rose from her seat and walked around her desk. She stood in front of Ela and looked down at her reached out hand. Meghan's dog tags glinted in her pale hand beneath the lights in her office. Six closed Ela's hand around the tags.

Six looked her in the eye.

"Keep them. I'm so sorry for your loss Elzabieta. Not only was Meghan an outstanding operator but a dear friend to all of us. Keep her memory alive." Six said sincerely.

Ela nodded took a step back.

"Tell me what happened." Six dared to ask.

"Six, Meghan was killed by Vanguard, the CIA agent we were supposed to be working with. We have reason to believe that he was a double agent working with the White Mask." Dominic said with frustration in his voice.

"From the very short analysis I did of her body when I saw her, it looked like she asphyxiated to death. By the time we arrived it was too late. Her death would have been… slow… and painful." Mike said. He winced at the thought of how she died.

Mike placed Meghan's hard drive on her desk trying to change the uncomfortable subject.

"Meghan left this behind for us. Vanguard is still at large Six. Meghan's drive might be able to help us find him. We need to kill that son of a bitch for what he did to her." Mike said angerly.

Thermite and Ela nodded in agreement.

"I have contacts that can help take care of this. I know you probably don't want to hear this, but we should probably lay low for a while before we go after Vanguard. You have no idea how much tension this going to cause diplomatically between Rainbow and the United States."

"LAY LOW?! Six, with all due respect, we just lost our first operator and you want to remain idle? The longer we wait, the faster Vanguard slips away! He could be plotting against as we speak!" Dominic protested.

Six placed hand on Dominic's shoulder.

"Dominic, I understand how angry you must feel right now we need to be careful how we plan this. Let me take it from here. Your team needs to rest now. You're home." Six reasoned with him.

"Yes ma'am." Dominic half heartedly and walked out of her office.

Ela and Thermite followed his lead.

Mike and Six stood in silence.

Six nodded to him.

"Go on Mike. Help your team settle back in." Six said turning her back to look out her office window of the magnificent view Hereford Base and the country side.

Mike turned to leave Six's office. He stopped before walking out the door.

"What will you do now Six?" Mike asked.

"Find out how I'm going to tell the others about Valkyrie."

 **Author's note:**

The next chapter will be the grand finale for this story. I just want to thank everyone for taking the time to read my story and send feedback. You have no idea how much it means to me. You guys are an awesome group of people. I'm thinking of writing a sequel to this story. Let me know if I should. See you next chapter!


	15. Part 6 Chapter 15

Part 6 Chapter 15

The mission lead's voice chirped in everyone's ear pieces.

"15 seconds remaining."

"10 seconds remaining."

"Op For last op standing."

"5 seconds remaining."

"Friendly last operator standing."

"Prevent further access to the bio hazard container."

 _Phew I just barely made it back. Now where the hell is the last Op For…_

There was a cluster of bullets fired.

The screen on everyone's VR goggles went dark.

"Op For eliminated all friendlies. Mission failed."

"WAIT WHAT? WHERE WAS SHE?" Ela shrieked in confusion.

"I WON! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!" Ash cheered. Her teammates jogged over to her cheering and exchanging knuckle touches with her.

Ela laid on the ground with her teammates staring at her angrily.

Smoke approached her.

"Ela, what were you thinking running back into a contested objective not ready for a gun fight?" Smoke asked angrily.

"I…I…I…"

Ela was at a loss for words. Smoke crossed his arms waiting patiently for an answer.

"Sorry." She muttered lowering her head.

Smoke pointed to the door.

"Save the apology and fuck off. Come back when you've gotten your head out of your ass."

Ela picked up her gear and sulked out of the training room. Smoke shook his head disappointedly. She kept her head down as she left avoiding her teammate's gazes.

"I think you're being too hard on her James." Mira, one of the designated anchors on Ela's squad whispered to James

"No. She fought with me tooth and nail that she was ready to return to training. It's been an absolute shit show since her return. She won't except any of my help. She knew what was coming her way if this continued."

The last 2 weeks since the shadow element's return from Iraq have been a nightmare. Ela's squad on Orange team started a massive losing streak largely due to Ela's inability to perform her job effectively. In Ela's squad, she's the primary roamer alongside Chul Kyung Hwa, one of Rainbow's South Korean operators. Ela had been making stupid errors getting killed very early into rounds leaving it up to Chul and anchors to pick up her slack.

Smoke, the leader of her squad, was at his wits end with Ela's silly mistakes and lack combat effectiveness. She had become more of a liability to her team than an asset.

What's the point of roaming when the roamer dies 10 seconds into the round or can't hit a target to save their life?

Soldiers and other operators were finishing up their daily routines for the day as Ela walked through Hereford Base. Some said hello to her as she walked past but she ignored them not wanting to be bothered.

She reached her dorm building and walked up the stairs to her hallway.

She walked past Meaghan's dorm room which had become a makeshift memorial in her memory until a more formal memorial could be erected for her. The door was closed so no one could go inside her room, but the front of the door was completely decorated with cards, flowers, pictures, and notes that the operators and staff on base had personally made and taped to the door.

Ela had to walk past Meaghan's door every day to leave her building. The daily reminder that her one and only friend was dead tormented her with every walk down the hall.

Ela unlocked the door to her room and walked inside. She placed her weapons and kit in the corner of her room. She fell face first onto her bed enjoying the silence and solitude.

 _What is wrong with me?!_ Her conscience screamed.

 _You're guilty._ A man's voice replied.

Ela rolled over and stared at the ceiling.

"Leave me alone dad."

 _Your guilt is the reason why you fail. You're responsible for killing so many people you care about that you can barely focus. Let's see…_

"Stop it Dad."

 _You drove me to suicide. You got plenty of your teammates killed as a PMC. You've gotten some of your teammates killed in GROM. You're killing your teammates in training. And the cherry on top of it all, you killed your one and only friend; Meaghan._

Ela rolled to her side in the fetal position covering her ears with her pillows attempting to block out her father's voice, but it was no use. His voice was embedded in her mind.

"Don't flatter yourself I never cared about you. I always hated you and I still..."

Ela bit her tongue. She took a deep breath trying to subdue the rage building inside her.

"I'm going to kill Vanguard and make things right for Meaghan." Ela muttered.

 _Are you sure you're doing this for Meaghan? Or do you want to kill Vanguard to selfishly ease your own guilt? Whether you succeed in killing Vanguard or not, it won't change the fact that Meaghan died because you were incapable of protecting her._

"Meaghan and I were family. She was the sister that I lacked in my life. Are you sure you're not undermining me because YOU feel guilty for dividing our family. I mean, you're the reason why Zo and I are like this."

Her father didn't respond.

Ela stood up and walked to her door. She paused before she left and laughed to herself.

"Why do I even argue with you. You're dead."

 _Heath my warning Elzabieta, your goals for redemption make you a bloody fool. Killing Vanguard won't bring Meaghan back. You have no idea what pain and misery awaits you._

Ela left her room trying to escape her demon.

She stopped by Meaghan's door and stared at it. It was dusk, and operators were settling into their comfy clothes and preparing for dinner at the mess hall. She reached her hand out touching the door thinking about redemption for her friend.

Ela felt someone's arm wrap around her and a chin rest on her shoulder. The touch made her flinch.

Ela never liked physical contact from being smacked around by her father so much.

"Relax sweetie it's just me." A female voice said laughing.

Ela recognized the voice.

It was Elena Alvarez.

Elena was dressed in hoodie and sweatpants. Elena was a muscular woman like Meaghan but 2 inches shorter and a lot slender. Everyone in Rainbow joked that Elena was the Spaniard who found the fountain of youth because despite being 40 years old she looked like she was in her 20s.

Elena rubbed Ela's arm trying to comfort her.

"Como estas? (How are you?)" She asked with concern.

Ela didn't answer.

"I was worried about you after what James said to you at training."

Don't mind what he said Ela."

Ela rolled her eyes recalling at the event.

"James is hard on you because he cares about you Ela. He wants to see us all succeed."

"Yeah, James sounds a lot like my father."

Ela turned looking Elena dead in the eyes.

"I hated my father." Ela said coldly.

Elena wrapped up Ela in her arms hugging her.

"What's wrong Ela? This isn't like you. This isn't the Bosak Tempest."

"The Bosak Tempest is dead Elena. She died in Iraq with her only friend."

Elena only has a very aggressive demeanor on the battlefield to intimidate her opponents. But of all the women on team Rainbow, Elena was the most caring. She was like the mom of Rainbow Six. Any time an operator was down or needed help, Elena was there to pick them up. She helped Alexandr upgrade his turret. She supports her GEO teammate Ryad every step of the way in the hunt for his younger brother's killer.

Elena was an anchor for Rainbow on and off the battlefield.

"Excuse me. I hope I'm not interrupting." A British voice said from behind them.

Elena let go of Ela. They turned to see James.

"Hello Ela. Elena."

"James." Elena greeted him with a smile.

Ela didn't say anything.

"Listen Ela, I'm sorry for losing my temper. I'm just concerned about you. You haven't been yourself and we all want to help you, but you keep pushing us away. We're a family. Myself, Elena, Chul, and Massaru can't help you if you don't want to be helped. I'm afraid that if you keep heading down this path we'll lose you."

"I know you mean well James. I'm sorry for shutting everyone out and acting like an idiota. It's been a rough few weeks and I thought maybe getting into the swing things on my own would get my mind off of what's happened to me."

"Its okay Ela. Let us help you get back on your feet. You don't have to do everything by yourself. We're here to help you."

Ela nodded in agreement.

"Come have supper with us Ela. You'll feel better." Elena said flashing a smile.

Ela nodded again in agreement and filed down the stairs with Elena and the rest of the operators going to get supper.

…

Grace Nam, one of Rainbow Six's computer hacking experts, skipped past the operators walking down the stairs for supper. She looked at the doors as she moved through the hallway glancing at the operator symbols on the doors marking whose dorm room it belonged to. She eventually found the operator symbol she was looking for. The symbol looked like a power button for a computer with little lightning bolts coming out of the back.

She knocked on the door.

"Hey gramps! I have something you might want to see!" She said jokingly.

She heard footsteps walking to the door. The door opened revealing Mike Baker standing in the door frame. He looked a lot better since his return from his undercover op in Iraq.

"What's up Gracie?" He asked rubbing his eyes.

"Come with me!" She said grabbing his hand with an iron grip and jerking him down the hall toward her room. The gesture caught Mike way off guard.

Grace opened the door to her dorm and ushered the old man inside.

The South Korean dorms were much different from the other operator dorms. South Korea's dorms consisted of two individual bedrooms connected by one common living area in the middle. The particular styled room was given to the South Korean operators so Chul, Grace's handler, would have an easier time doing his job of staying in control of her and making sure she didn't taint their home country's honor. Grace didn't perform well on her psych eval showing split personalities and she possessed a very colorful history of rebellion from the South Korean military's formalities. Unlike Taina, who is very close with her handler, Grace hates Chul. She sees Chul as the spitting image of the controlling military structure she rebelled against in the past. Despite Grace's hatred toward him, Chul really didn't care what anyone thought of him. To him, less contact with people, was better. This is why he gets along with SAS operator Mark Chandler so well.

Mike stepped inside their room. Chul sat on the sofa reading a book.

Mike and Chul met each other's glances and gave each other a friendly nod.

Grace talked in Korean with a venomous tone at Chul for a reason Mike couldn't make out. Chul shook his head and kept to his book.

Mike followed Grace to her computer which looked extremely expensive. It was the crafting bench where Grace invented her signature gadget, the Logic Bomb. Meaghan's external drive was plugged into her computer. Six had given Mike permission to put Grace in charge of analyzing all of the data Meaghan had extracted before she died. Grace had been working day and night sorting through the documents hoping to find something on Vanguard's whereabouts.

Grace plopped down in her rolling chair and wiggled her mouse. Her expensive super desktop computer hummed to life. The screen showed a list of emails.

"I think I have a lead on our friend Vanguard." She said with a sly smile.

"Explain." Mike said leaning in behind her to read what was on the computer screen.

"Seems like your friend Vanguard was in talks with the media. He was sending emails to a reporter by the name of Jess. They were in talks of leaking secrets to the public and holding criminals responsible for their crimes. I still haven't figured out all of the details but I'm working on it. Jess's IP is coming from… oh my…"

"What is it?"

Grace's fingers typed a mile a minute on her keyboard as different windows appeared and vanished. Eventually a map of the Earth showed up on her screen. The image of the Earth began to slowly rotate and zoom in toward Seoul, South Korea.

"South Korea?" Mike look quizzically at Grace. Grace had the same surprised expression as Mike.

"Yes. That's where the reporter receiving Vanguard's messages IP is located. Right in Mok Myeok Tower."

Mike felt a presence behind him. He turned to see Chul looking over Mike's shoulder at the map of South Korea. Guess the mentioning of his home country was enough to attract his attention.

"These emails were sent a while ago, so God only knows what they've achieved by now. I just don't understand why Vanguard is relying so much on this reporter while trying to stay off the grid. I mean the more crutches you have…"

"The more it hurts when they get kicked out from under you." Mike said finishing her sentence and staring at the computer screen. He squeezed Grace's arm.

"Listen, you keep working on this. I think I have an idea on how we can find Vanguard." Mike said excitedly and left her room in a hurry.

He popped his head back into her room.

"Oh, thank you for all your help Gracie. Good day!" Mike said and rushed out the door again.

…

"Overlord this is Snake 6-6. Both Snake 6-6 and Snake 6-7 have visual on the compound and are in position. The clock is ticking. Do we have a green light?"

"Snake 6-6 and Snake 6-7, green light. Nonlethal measures requested by the men in charge."

"Copy that Overlord. All Snake units set your blasters to stun."

"Seriously dude? You had to say it like that?" A young male voice criticized.

"Shut up will you. We're approaching the gate." Another one said.

A guard approached the big white truck parked at the gate. A second truck trailed behind it. He knocked on the driver window and motioned to the driver to roll it down.

"Identification." The man said holding out his hand for some sort of ID.

"Yeah, got it right here." The driver said plunging a taser into his neck. The soldier yelped and collapsed to the ground.

The soldiers at the gate noticed what was going outside and rushed to help. Men in multi cam uniforms piled out of the back of both trucks armed for bear. They shot the remaining guards with darts from their assault rifles and hid their bodies in the guard shack hand cuffed.

The armed men moved into the compound with their weapons at the ready staying hidden in the shadows. It was late at night which meant security was down to a skeleton crew and the VIPs were most likely asleep.

"Those dormitories three blocks down is the target and it looks like the Kingpin is still in her building as well. We'll divide and conquer. Snake 6-6 will secure the dormitories while Snake 6-7 secures the Kingpin. Clear?"

The groups of men shook their heads in unison.

"Let's go let's get it done."

The armed men split up moving to their designated buildings.

…

Ela, Elena, James, Bandit, and a bunch of other Orange team operators filed out of the mess hall back to their dorms laughing and talking amongst themselves. It was the beginning of Winter now. Snowflakes danced in the night sky. A sharp cold breeze blew across the base. It was getting close to Ela's bed time. She yawned as she walked up the stairs with her teammates. When they made it to their floor they exchanged hugs and said goodnight before retreating to their dorms for the night.

Ela changed into a t shirt and shorts, went through her nightly routine before jumping into her bed. She fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. Moments later she found herself in a dream.

She stood on top of a sand dune overlooking a dune sea similar to what she saw in Iraq. A figure sat in front of her looking out at the view not noticing Ela's presence. Ela approached the figure and realized it was her best friend Meaghan. Ela's heart skipped a beat at the sight and she smiled. Meaghan was dressed in her full battle attire she normally wore.

Ela approached Meaghan from behind.

"Hey you! Its me!" She said tapping her on the shoulder.

Meaghan turned around and the sight of her made Ela want to vomit.

Meaghan's body looked exactly like how it did when she died. Her skin was white as paper turning cyanotic. Some of the veins in her arms, neck, and face could be seen through her skin in a bluish color as if she had drawn squiggly lines all over her skin with a blue ink pen. She had dark circles under her eyes like she hadn't slept in months.

"Meaghan…"

"Ela, wake up." She croaked.

"What?"  
Meaghan grabbed Ela by the collar of her shirt with both hands and shook her violently.

"WAKE UP ELA! WAKE UP!" She screamed in her face.

Ela sat straight up in her bed in a cold sweat and hyperventilating. She looked at her phone. It blinked 1200. Not much time had passed since she crawled into her bed.

She flopped back down on her bed staring at the ceiling. She closed her eyes and tried to fall asleep with no success. She crawled out of her bed and stretched cracking her back. She put on shoes and shuffled out of her room toward the common area in the middle of the building where the two hallways of the building met in the middle. Maybe one of the other operators was awake. Normally somebody was awake at this hour. To her surprise the hallways were completely dark and appeared to be a ghost town. She made her way to the common area and opened the mini fridge. She pulled out a cold bottle of water and broke the seal on the cap before tip toeing back to her room.

Out of the depths of the shadows Ela felt a cable slide around her neck. The person on the cord yanked back hard closing off Ela's throat preventing her from breathing. She thrashed her arms around violently trying to free herself. The cable around Ela's throat dug into her smooth skin cutting parts of her neck causing blood to trickle down.

Ela's fighting was no use. She couldn't break free and she felt herself beginning to pass out. In a last desperate attempt Ela kicked a nearby bedroom door as hard as she could. She tried to see whose door she kicked.

The symbol on the door was a gas mask suspended in a cloud.

It belonged to James Porter. Just the person she needed.

After what felt like an eternity of waiting, James's door opened, and he walked out slowly. A different person tried to knock him out, but James countered with ease and smashed the person's face into a wall. He could hear the person's skull crunch against the wall. Everyone in Rainbow Six agreed that James was the best CQC fighter in all of Rainbow having been a middle weight boxing champion and on plenty of CQC ops in the SAS.

James stood in the middle of the dark hallway alone in full combat uniform. He held one his toxic nests in his one hand and his M870 in the other with his smg 11 holstered on his thigh. Seeing him with a nest in hand meant things were about to get very bad for everyone.

Ela felt the cable around her neck loosen. The person who was doing the choking threw Ela to the ground and raised his rifle at James.

Ela put pressure on the cuts on her neck to stop the bleeding. She turned to get a good look at the intruders through the darkness. They wore multi cam, body armor, and were equipped with M4 carbines and pistols. There was about 20 of them in all.

 _They all look like…Craig. They must be Navy SEALs._ Ela thought to herself as she looked up at the Blackbeard look alikes. She took a good look at the person who tried to choke her earlier. He had a very long beard and looked older than the other soldiers.

"Thought I heard some horseplay out here. Leave the girl alone and I just might let you live." James said tossing his cannister up and down in his one hand.

"You're under arrest. Drop your weapons. Put your hands in the air where we can see them, or we will use deadly force." One of the soldiers said.

"Under whose authority?" An English accented voice came from behind the squad of soldiers. The soldiers turned to see who was behind them.

Seamus stood behind the squad of soldiers in full battle gear as well with the same loadout as James. Seamus's gas mask wasn't tinted so Ela could see his eyes which were full of aggression. Mike, who also in full battle gear, stood next to Seamus with his L86.

"The United Nations. This is your last warning. Don't make this harder than it needs to be." The soldier sneered.

Ela looked at Mike with a look of doom. She didn't know what was going on, but Mike understood. Everything finally made sense to him. Grace's voice played in his head like a broken record.

" _Seems like your friend Vanguard was in talks with the media. He was sending emails to a reporter by the name of Jess. They were in talks of leaking secrets to the public and holding criminals responsible for their crimes."_

This was what Vanguard was planning. To expose Rainbow Six to the world on God knows what "crimes" to shut them down.

Mike looked down at Ela.

"It's Vanguard." He said to her sternly.

"Who the hell is Vanguard?" One of the soldiers asked.

The name cut into Ela's soul like a hot knife through butter.

 _Ela. Help me. Please. Don't let these men take you._

Ela hesitated at the voice begging in her head. It wasn't the voice of Ela. It was the voice of Meaghan and she sounded upset.

Ela balled her fists and with lighting reflexes she punched the SEAL closed to her in the testicles sending him to his knees. She rolled to her back and pulled the man down over top of her using the man like a human shield. His teammates fired at Ela but hit their comrade instead. James threw his cannister into the crowd of SEALs and lit the charge. The cannister exploded filling the hallway with gas. Seamus and Mike dove away from the cloud to safer ground. Ela could hear them screaming at the other operators in the dorms to wake up and evacuate the building.

"GAS, GAS, GAS!" One of the SEALS yelled. The SEALs began to don gas masks as the yellow gas cloud began to envelop them.

James walked partially into the cloud and pulled Ela out from the chaos. He helped her to her feet shoved her down the hallway toward her room.

Ela ran into her room choking on gas particles and changed into her battle attire. She grabbed her weapons and kit and ran out of her room.

James stood in the hallway waiting for his gas cloud to clear, so he could see the results of handiwork.

To his amazement, the 19 Navy SEALs walked casually out of the gas cloud unharmed by the gas with their weapons at the ready.

Ela took cover at the edge of her doorway inside her room looking down the hall at the image before her in utter amazement. No one knew what was in James's cannisters except for him.

This was impossible. Nobody breaths in his gas and makes it out alive.

"Well, well, well." Smoke said shaking his head. "Looks like someone knows what's in the cannister."

"Surrender or we'll use other means of sub doing you." One of the soldiers said zeroing in his rifle on James.

James looked back toward Ela. Ela stared back at James unsure of what to do. She couldn't fire her weapon because of risk of friendly fire.

"Ela, Rainbow needs you now more than ever. Don't let us down." He said confidently to her.

"James…no…." Ela muttered taking a step to run to his aid.

James saw her motion forward and shook head his signaling her to stay put.

The lead SEAL pulled the trigger. A projectile impacted James's shoulder. He stumbled backward dropping his shotgun.

James sank to his knees and crumpled to the floor.

"JAMES!" Ela screeched. She tried to run out to retrieve his body, but the soldiers turned to Ela and fired in her direction.

Ela felt a strong force knock her back into her room.

Ela grabbed her Scorpion Evo from the ground and aimed it at the figure.

"ELA STOP ITS ME! YOUR SISTER!" A voice said.

Zofia Bosak got to her feet and helped up her sister.

"I can't believe I'm saying but I'm glad to see you." Ela said as Zo patted her down making sure she wasn't injured.

"Are you hit?" She asked her.

"No."

"What's going on? I heard all the commotion. Who are these guys? What did they do James?" She asked loading a mag into her AK.

"It's the United Nations Zo. Looks like they're cleaning house and James was the first one to go. There's no time to explain. We have to get out here." Ela said moving back to the edge of the doorway.

Ela watched as the SEALs began to divide and conquer the halls of the dorms. They started kicking in doors to bedrooms trying to flush out operators that had barricaded themselves into their rooms. Ela watched as Elias Kӧtz, one of Rainbow Six's point men charged out of his room with his strobe lighted shield. He flashed an enemy with his shield and swung wildly at the SEALs. He clipped one sending him flying to into a wall cracking the drywall fell up against. Elias smashed another SEAL sending him sprawling onto his back.

"TASER, TASER, TASER!"

One of the SEALs got behind Elias and shot him with his taser. The barbs dug into his arm. Elias collapsed to the ground yelling pain. The SEALs ripped his shield from him and handcuffed him.

"ELIAS!" Ela heard a female voice scream.

Monika Weiss, GSG 9's other blue team operator sprinted toward the SEALs dragging Elias away. She wasn't armed. She was dressed in an old long sleeve shirt and sweatpants not prepared for a fight.

"MONIKA NO!" Elias screamed.

A SEAL snapped his rifle to Monika and fired hitting her center mass with a needled projectile. She grunted at the impact and fell face first in a heap not moving. The SEAL rushed over to Monika's lifeless body and dragged her over to rest of the fallen operators. Ela saw no sign of Dominic or Marius. They were probably holed up somewhere else fending for their lives.

The SEALs continued their push getting closer and closer Ela's room taking down the operators as they went. Soon Ela and her older sister would be shot captured.

"Ela this is madness. We should try and reason with them. This is the United Nations we're dealing with. If we stopped resisting, then maybe they'd stop hurting everyone." Zo said taking cover next to Ela.

Ela turned and put her hands on her older sister's shoulders staring straight into her eyes.

"Zo, listen to me. You're going to have to put whatever feeling you have against me aside and trust me. This isn't the United Nations. This is terrorism. We have to leave now. I'll explain later."

Zo took a breath giving Ela a troubled look.

"Okay. I trust you." Zo turned to Ela's bedroom window. "I think I have an idea."

Ela could tell what she was thinking.

"Zo I don't have repelling equipment and I'm no good at it."

"I'll rope you down Ela. You don't have to do anything."

"I don't know about this Zo." Ela said moving to her window. She opened her window and stuck her out looking down at the three-story drop.

"Ela, I'm trusting you on this, so you're going to have to trust me too. I can't buddy carry you down because the window is too small for us to fit and we're definitely not going out into that hallway."

Ela took a nervous gulp.

"Alright. Let's do it."

Zo made her rappelling system and tied a rope around Ela's waste. In the background they could hear the battle between the last surviving operators and the squad of SEALs getting closer and closer.

"Hurry Ela. We're running out of time." Zo said ushering her sister to the window.

Ela crouched on her window sill with facing her sister. She could feel the cold winter air rush up her back. She white knuckled the rope keeping her from falling to her death.

Zo did a quick check to make sure the ropes were secure.

"I'll feed the rope down which will lower you. You ready?"

"Tak (Yes)." Ela said looking down at the open air beneath her.

Ela carefully began to step off the window sill into the cold, snowy, night time air. Her foot slipped spooking her. Snow was beginning to accumulate making things slippery.

"There you go Ela. Take a step off the sill. Trust me. I won't let you fa…"

Her sister's voice was cut off by the sound of projectiles impacting flesh. Zo squeezed her eyes shut grimacing in pain.

"Starsza siostra (Elder sister)?!" Ela screamed.

Zo's grip loosened on the rope and crumpled to the ground.

Ela's weight went back backward falling off the window sill plummeting toward macadam below.

Ela screamed as she fell in an uncontrolled backward summersault.

The roped suddenly tightened. The stoppage knocked the wind out of her. Ela sat suspended one story above the ground. She looked up at her window. She could hear voices from the inside yelling, but she couldn't make out what it was. She wasn't sure how she managed to stop herself from falling to her death.

Ela pulled out her knife and cut the rope. She fell 10 feet smashing onto the cold snow-covered ground. She laid there grimacing in pain.

"HEY! DOWN THERE! ONE IS TRYING TO ESCAPE!" A voice said from her bedroom window. Ela turned to see a SEAL leaning out of her window with his rifle. He started firing but missed. Ela scrambled to her feet and ran as fast as she could trying not to slip in the snow. She sprinted as fast as she could across the base ducking and weaving through dark alleys trying to create as much distance as she could between her and the enemy.

A body close lined her as she turned a corner.

Ela feel face first into the snow. She was getting really tired of the constant sneak attacks.

She felt a body climb onto her back and cold blade against her throat.

"Who are you, seu miserável?" The figure said.

Ela could recognize that voice from anywhere.

"Taina! It's Ela! Get off of me!" Ela yelled trying to shake her off.

"Halt Taina! Get off of her!" A German male accented voice said.

Taina obeyed and stepped off of Ela. A black gloved hand reached out to Ela. She took the hand and was helped to her feet. She peered into the darkness and made out the figure of Marius Streicher. He was dressed in his usual green hoodie, jeans and sneaks beneath all of his combat gear.

"You good?" Marius asked.

"Ja." Ela said brushing the snow off of her.

"Gut (Good). I saw your fall. You're lucky whoever was roping you down remembered to install a safety. You would've been a red stain in the snow without it."

"Yeah that was Zo who was roping me down. Those SEALs got her too."

Marius sighed.

"Do you know if Elias and Monika made it out?"

"I'm afraid not Marius. I'm sorry."

Marius swore in German.

The three operators began to hear footsteps crunching on snow. Marius, Taina, and Ela hid behind some trash cans.

"Bleu auf bleu nicht scheiβen (Blue on blue don't shoot.)" A male voice called out in German.

Marius's body relaxed, and he came out of cover. In the shadows of the alleyway they could see Dominic, Alexandr, and Maxim walking with multiple figures behind him.

"I see you found more." Marius said greeting Dominic with a quick hug.

"Ja. I was able to find some remnants of blue team. How did your search go?" Dominic said motioning toward the silhouettes. Behind Dominic stood Mike, Jordan, Seamus, Eliza, and Craig all in full kit and looking exhausted.

"I was able to find Ela suspended 10ft in the air." Marius said nodding toward Ela.

"So, is this it? Is this all who's made it?" Mike asked.

"Ja." Dominic said halfheartedly. He wished everyone had made it out.

"What do we do?" Asked Eliza.  
"We get out of here before your Amerikanskiy friends take us next." Alexandr grumbled to her.

"No. We can't leave yet." Mike interjected.

"Why? There's nothing left for us here. You saw what just happened in our building." Maxim argued.

"We need to rescue Six."

Everyone looked at Mike like he was crazy.

"It'll be no use Mike. Those special ops guys probably snagged her well before they came after us. She's more of a high value target than us." Eliza said.

"I saw Six's car when I was walking out of the mess hall earlier. She's still here. I'm certain of it." Ela jumped in defending Mike's idea.

"Listen, this isn't the United Nations. This is terrorism orchestrated by the White Masks. I can explain the details later. Right now, the only person who has a chance of saving Rainbow from the United Nations is Six and she can't protect us from inside of a jail cell. I'm giving you all the option. Stay with me and seek redemption for your fallen comrades or walk away. It's your choice. There's no shame if you decide to walk away. I wish you the best of luck on your journey but be aware that you all are now fugitives on the world's most wanted list. If we can save Six, we may just stand a chance and maybe, just maybe, we'll find Vanguard, the one responsible for all of this."

The operators stood quietly as they pondered what to do. The wind passed between the huddled group of operators. The snow fell gently from the night sky. The cold didn't bother any of the operators due to being used to operating in cold climates.

Well everyone except for Eliza and Taina who were huddled next to Ela shivering. Taina was not prepared for the weather wearing her short sleeve Bope button down shirt. Eliza lived in Jerusalem for most of her life and it never snows over there.

"I'm in." Alexandr said confidently. "They took Glazkov, Lera, and Shurat. Those yankees are going to pay for what they did to them."

"Soglasovano (agreed). I'm in. We have a score to settle." Maxim chimed in. Alexandr and Maxim exchanged a knuckle touch.

"Of course, I have your back brother." Seamus said patting Mike on the shoulder. Mike smiled underneath his mask. He could always count on his buddy Seamus with anything.

"I'm with you too Mike and so is Eliza." Jordan said nudging Eliza's shoulder.

"I'm… capable of… making my own… decisions… thank you." Eliza said through shivers giving her FBI counterpart a dirty look.

Jordan chuckled to himself. Eliza flipped him the bird.

"GSG 9 is in." Bandit said patting Marius on the back. Marius gave the group a confident nod.

"I'm gonna give Vanguard a fist full of lead when I find him." Blackbeard said with a devilish grin.

Only one more person left to decide. Everyone stared at Ela.

She reached into a second holster attached to her belt and pulled out Meaghan's Desert Eagle. She loaded in a magazine, cocked the pistol, and placed it back in the holster.

"I'm in. Let's do this." Ela said fiercely.

She had a score to settle with Vanguard.

 **Author note:**

I once again would like to thank everyone who has been reading the story and sending me feedback. I really appreciate it Your feedback means a lot to me. I decided that instead of writing a separate sequel under a different title, I'm going to divide this story into acts. This is the end of act I. Act II will be on this story board so if you're interested in continuing to follow this storyline you can find it here. Act 2 Chapter 1 will be coming soon. Peace!


	16. Act II Chapter 16

**Rainbow Six: Undercover**

 **ACT II**

 **Chapter 16**

" **He Who Dares, Wins"**

Six sat at her desk with her hands folded staring at the door.

Watching.

Listening.

She could hear footsteps trampling toward her office.

She knew what was coming. She saw the soldiers rush out of their trucks. There was nothing she could do accept face what was coming for her. She had no idea if her operators were okay. All she could do was keep her composure and wait.

The doors to her office exploded open. Men in multi cam armed to the teeth poured into her office pointing their rifles at her. They stood in front of her desk.

"Director Six, put your hands behind your head and step away from the desk slowly. Don't try anything stupid." One of the men commanded.

She complied with the man's orders.

"Check fire check fire boss is coming in." Another man said.

The soldiers made a path in the doorway as a man in a suit walked into her office. He was about six foot, slender. His hair was black and turning grey on sides. It was smoothly pushed back. He had a clean-cut face and wore a military uniform.

He pulled out handcuffs and detained Six.

"Director Six, in a coalition led by United States under the authority of the United Nations, you and your unit are under arrest for war crimes against humanity, terrorism, and violations of international peace treaties and the Geneva Convention. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in an international court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford one, one will be appointed to you by the court. With these rights in mind, are you still willing to talk with me about the charges placed against you by the United Nations?"

Six didn't say a word. She looked straight ahead not showing any emotion.

Something wasn't right about the arrest being made but she went with it.

The man smiled at her silence.

"I guess I'll take that as a no." He turned to one of the SEAL squad leaders. "Keep her close. Make sure she makes it to The Hague without any mishaps. I received word that some of her operators escaped. They'll be looking for her."

"Yes sir." The SEALs acknowledged. The leader of the SEAL squad radioed on his comms.

"Snake 6-7 from Snake 6-6 beginning extraction of VIP to The Hague, what's your status?"

"Copy that Snake 6-7, we have everything wrapped over in our sector. We suffered a few casualties. Waiting for instruction on what to do with the detainees."

The SEAL turned back to the older man in uniform.

"Sir, Snake 6-6 needs instruction on what to do with their detainees."

The man rubbed his chin in thought.

"There should be prison cells on this base. Send them there. We can conduct our interrogations on base."

"Roger that." The SEAL turned back to his radio. "Snake 6-6, instructions by Overlord, take your prisoners to the detention center on base. Stand by for further orders."

"Solid copy we're Oscar mike."

The SEAL turned to his squad.

"Alright boys let's move."

The SEALs made a ring around Six as they escorted her out of her office. The older man in charge stayed behind. They walked down the stairs with weapons ready to take down any threats. They made it to the ground floor and walked to the lobby. The building was empty. All of the staff were either home or had been arrested. They walked out the front door to one of the cargo trucks they had taken to get to Hereford base which was parked out front waiting for them.

"Stay frosty boys we're almost ther…"

His voice was cut off by an explosion that sounded like thunder as the back of the compartment door to the truck was opened. The SEALs fell to their knees clasping their heads trying to suppress the dizziness that was brought upon them by the explosion.

The squad leader was screaming into his radio.

"HOSTILES HIJACKED OUR TRUCK AND ARE ENGAGING US WE NEED BACK UP!"

A flashbang rolled toward the group and exploded.

Then another flashbang exploded near them.

And another.

And another.

And another.

The SEALs laid on the ground screaming covering their eyes. Six fell to the ground completely blinded. Her ears were filled with an ear-piercing ring. Six felt the SEAL who was escorting her let go of her arm. She sat on her knees with her eyes squeezed shut coverning her ears trying to figure out what was happening.

She felt a new set of hands grab her.

She heard a muffled female voice.

"Securing the hostage."

Six was regaining her hearing slowly, but her vision still wasn't clear yet.

"Stay on me." The voice coaxed, and she was yanked in certain direction. The female felt like she wanted to run fast, but Six's slowness was holding her back because she wasn't wearing the proper shoes for a dead sprint.

She ran blindly holding on tight to the female's hand. There was another explosion from behind them that sounded like thunder.

She felt more hands grab her and pull her into what felt like the back of a cargo truck. She heard the door slide shut and felt a jolt as truck began to move forward.

"Six? Six can you hear me? Are you okay?" The female voice asked gently shaking her arm.

Her vision finally cleared to see a red headed girl wearing big Oakley sunglasses in her face checking to see if she was okay.

"Ash?" Six asked rubbing her temple.

"That's my name, don't wear it out." Eliza said with big smile.

"What's going on? What happened?"

Eliza took a seat on the floor next to her.

"We're moving you to a secure location. We'll explain once we can guarantee your safety."

Six looked around the truck.

Dominic, Alexandr, Maxim, Taina, Elzabieta, Jordan, Craig, and Seamus were also in the truck with them sitting along the wall in full kit.

"Brilliant work making that grab Eliza and nice work utilizing your Grzmot Mines Ela." Seamus said patting Ela on the back.

Ela smiled at the compliment.

"Where's the rest of Rainbow?" Six asked.

"Marius is driving with Mike up front with him. Other than that, we're all that's left ma'am." Eliza said.

Six bit back a curse. That was a severe number of casualties.

"Hey guys I hate to interrupt but I think I hear someone behind us." Bandit said putting his ear to the back of the sliding door.

Bullet began to penetrate the think metal sliding door.

"WOAH!" Bandit yelled diving for cover.

Mike banged on the wall of the truck.

"WE GOT COMPANY LADS! 5 MIKES TILL WE REACH THE AIR FIELD! HOLD THEM OFF!" They heard him yell.

"I have an idea. Maxim, help me with this." Alexandr said pulling out his deployable turret. Maxim understood what he was thinking and helped him assemble his turret while trying to keep balance. Once the LMG was assembled Maxim sat on top of the tripod to keep the turret anchored to floor of the swaying truck.

Rounds penetrated the back of the truck getting close to the operators and cracking the bullet resistant glass Elena had installed on Alexandr's turret. Six hugged the floor praying she didn't get hit.

"LMG mounted and ready." Alexandr turned to Eliza. "Eliza, do you have your grenade launcher?"

"Yeah, right here." She said showing him her gadget attached to the front of her tactical vest.

"Okay. Bandit, open the door please. Let's give them hell."

"Here we go!" Bandit said and lifted the sliding door.

Three pickup trucks carrying a squad full of SEALs trailed behind their truck. As Bandit opened the sliding door they began to fire at him.

"Jesus Christ why are they always aimed at me?!" Bandit yelled dancing out of the SEALs line of fire for a second time.

"WEAPONS FREE WEAPONS FREE!" Seamus shouted.

Alexandr began to dump lead on the trucks trailing behind them aiming for their engine blocks hoping to disable them. Their goal was to disable the trucks without killing the SEALs. They didn't want to make their situation worse to United Nations.

Alexandr fired at the truck closest to them. The bullets landed into the engine causing thick black smoke to pour from under the hood.

"BAIL BAIL BAIL I'M LOSING HER!" The driver screamed.

The SEALs opened their doors and jumped out of the moving truck as it began to burst into flames and explode.

"GET SOME ALEX HAHA!" Bandit cheered slapping Alexandr on the back.

"HOW DO YOU LIKE US NOW YANKS?! WOOO!" Seamus cheered.

The other two trucks swerved out of the way of their comrades and returned fire. Alexandr fired a small burst from his turret until it started clicking.

"LAST MAG!" He yelled removing the disk from the top of his turret. He reached into his bandolier and pulled out his last disk of ammo. If they survived their journey he'd reload the mags with rounds to be use again.

Eliza fired a breaching round near one of the trucks trying to cover Alexandr. The explosion rocked one of the trucks almost causing it to lose control. The SEALs dove inside their truck to avoid the shrapnel.

Alexandr was about to smack his fresh mag into place on his LMG when their truck hit a pothole. The truck violently bounced upward popping the unsecured magazine out of the LMG. It clattered on the ground began to slide to the edge of the truck.

"FUCK!" Alexandr cursed in frustration trying to keep his balance and grab the magazine at the same time. Marius drove over another pothole and quickly went around a sharp turn knocking Alexandr and the other operators to the floor.

"For fucks sake who let Marius drive!?" Jordan protested.

The magazine skittered out of everyone's reach and was about to fall out of the truck. They needed that magazine.

"I GOT IT I GOT IT I GOT IT!" Taina yelled diving onto her belly. She slid to the edge of the truck plucking up the magazine before it could fall out of the truck.

A SEAL leaned out his window taking aim at Taina who was now completely exposed.

Taina's reflexes kicked in.

She rolled onto her side pulled out Luison, her signature suppressed pistol, and fired it one handed at the SEAL forcing him back into his vehicle.

Taina holstered her pistol, removed an impact grenade from her belt, pulled the pin with her teeth, and tossed it at the nearest truck. The explosion blew out the windshield causing the driver to move his hands off the steering wheel to cover his eyes from the flying glass shards.

The truck careened off the road hitting a gulley causing it to roll.

Taina moved away from the edge of the truck and handed the mag to Alexandr who loaded it into his LMG.

He cocked the machine gun, took aim at the last truck, and unleashed a fist full of lead at the last truck shredding it to ribbons. The truck spun off the road into a grassy field. They watched the SEALs ditch the truck before it could explode and ran after the operator's truck firing as they sped away leaving them in the dust.

The cargo truck careened through a security fence blocking Hereford's airfield and headed down the runway toward two British WWII bombers. The truck stopped in between the two vessels and the operators hopped off with their gear.

"Six, get in. We have to move before those SEALs reach the airfield." Craig said helping her into the bomber. The six orange team operators piled in behind her with their kits.

She noticed blue team wasn't getting in with them. She saw Mike helping blue team load their kit into the other aircraft.

"Mike, you're not coming with us?" She asked.

Mike turned to Six.

"We have a lead on Vanguard. Its Rainbow's turn to retaliate. Orange team will keep you safe in the meantime. We'll be in touch."

Six gave the operator a confident look of approval.

"Good luck."

Mike gave her a quick salute and climbed aboard the other British WWII bomber.

Marius jumped in the cockpit of orange team's plane with Dominic in the co pilot seat.

"Who's going to fly them?" Ela asked looking out the window.

"Eliza is gonna fly them. Did you all forget she was in the Israeli Air Force and an engineer before she joined Rainbow?" Marius said starting up the engines to orange team's plane.

"Can this bucket of bolts even fly?" Maxim asked looking nervously around the rusted interior of the plane.

"Of course! After all I'm the one who restored them!" Marius said confidently.

"Oh boy." Maxim said belting himself into his seat.

The planes taxied down the airfield and minutes later they were in the air.

Six watched as Hereford Base, the place she once called home, began to shrink as the plane gained altitude.

Blue team's plane flew just off of orange team's left wing but eventually went into a shallow angle changing its course.

"Where's blue team going?" Six asked.

"Seoul, South Korea." Ela said leaning back in her jump seat closing her eyes.

"And where are we going?"

"The motherland." Alexandr said smiling.

"Russia?"

"That's correct. Hope the cold doesn't bother you." Maxim said also leaning back in his chair to get some shut eye.

"No." Six said looking the window at the sea of dark clouds. "Not at all."

She let the hum of the bomber's engines drift her off to sleep as Marius smoothly flew orange team to their destination.


	17. Act II Chapter 17

**Rainbow Six: Undercover**

 **Act II**

 **Chapter 17**

 **Consequences**

Monika rubbed her temple with her two fingers and tried to stand.

"Easy now, don't stand too quickly." A voice said to her.

Elias was crouched next to her. He took her hand and helped her sit up.

"It's nice of you to join us sleeping beauty." Elias joked trying to lighten the situation.

"Where am I? Why do I feel like I just got hit by a train?" Monika asked still massaging her temple.

"Hereford Base prison and feeling like you just got hit by a train is the usual side effect of being sedated."

"Wait, what? I was sedated?" She asked confused.

"Yeah, you and a bunch of operators got a nice dirt nap while I got my ass tased million times."

Monika looked out from behind the prison bars. The prison had the appearance of a medieval dungeon. It was very old and dilapidated as if it hadn't been used in decades. The only source of light came from 3 buzzing light bulbs hanging from the ceiling. One would flicker on and off occasionally. There were no windows. The walls were made from red brick. The bars to the cells were rusted. She could hear water dripping from the ceiling and the boots of the lone prison guard doing his rounds echoing off the prison walls filling the prison with an unnerving ambient noise. The air felt cold and moist. She thought she heard a rat scurry across the floor which skeeved her out. There was a slight draft that moaned through the chamber making it sound like the place was haunted.

Monika never believed in ghosts, but with the sounds the air was making she was beginning to change her mind.

There were cells surrounding Monika's which were holding the other operators. Everyone seemed to be sitting quietly minding their own business except for James. James and Mark Chandler were in the cell across from Monika and Elias. James was rambling about nonsense to Mark, who was sitting as far away from James as possible with his hands cupped over his ears with a look that screamed "please kill me."

Monika could also see Emmanuelle and Gilles in another cell. Ryad and Elena were in the cell next to them and so on.

It appeared that most of Rainbow Six was locked behind bars.

Monika counted with her finger all of the operators she saw in the prison. She counted 29 operators out of 40. They were missing 11. Her two teammates Dominic and Marius were nowhere to be found. She also couldn't find Eliza, Craig, Alexandr, Maxim, Seamus, Elzabieta, Taina, Jordan, and Mike. Monika sat against the wall and leaned her head back staring at the ceiling.

She began to worry about her teammates. She hoped they were okay.

Monika began to hear a light tapping sound coming from one end of the prison. She looked down the prison hall and saw Lera Melnikova leaning against the front of her cell hitting her head against the bars of her cell in a slow rhythmic motion.

"Lera, please stop before you give yourself a concussion." Gustave said from his corner of the cell they were sharing.

She tightened her grip around the prison bars turning her knuckles white. Her face cringed and grimaced like she could hear nails scraping along a chalk board that no one else could hear.

"I can't take it Gustave. The feeling. It won't go away."

"We're going to get your medication soon. Just try to stay calm." Gustave tried to reassure her.

Lera rolled her eyes.

"There's no way they'll let that fly. At this rate the only way I'll be able to get rid of the pins and needles feeling in my arms and legs is if I cut them off."

She giggled at the thought.

Then she began to cry.

Lera put her pointer finger in her mouth and bit down on it as hard as she could. Blood began to trickle out of her finger. She tasted the blood in her mouth. But she felt no pain in her hand this time. Only the pins and needles. The feeling in her hands had finally disappeared completely. Ever since she'd been locked up and denied her medication, which was a special nanobots injection she had created for herself, Lera's neuropathy had taken a turn for the worst making her lose all feeling in all her extremities leaving behind a continuous pins and needles feeling that worsened every day.

"Hey!" A voice called out.

Lera snapped back to reality. She looked up at a guard standing in front of her cell door.

"Your presence has been requested." The guard said unlocking Lera and Gustave's cell door.

Lera looked nervously back at Gustave who only sat in his corner of their cell not moving.

"Step out of the cell, turn around, and show me your hands." The guar commanded.

Lera followed his directions. He put her in handcuffs and shackled her ankles.

She couldn't tell if the handcuffs were cutting off her circulation or if it was just her imagination.

The guard shoved her forward.

Lera walked forward and followed the guards lead. Lera felt the air against her face get warmer as they ascended the stairs to the main lobby. Armed guards and people milled around conducting business. The upper floors of the prison had been turned into a UN command post. Lera was led into a room with a metal table and two metal folding chairs at the opposite end of the room.

She was seated in the chair and handcuffed to the table.

"Boss will be with you in a moment." The guard said and closed the door.

Lera looked around the room. She felt cold air-conditioned air on her face. The ceiling light was extremely bright. There was a blacked-out one-way window diagonal to her.

She felt as if she were being watched.

An older man with slicked black and grey hair opened the door and stepped into the room with a pile of folders. He was dressed in a military uniform, but it had no name tags or insignias. He placed the folders on the table and sat in the metal chair across the table from Lera. He stared at her looking her up and down.

"Dr. Lera Melnikova? Am I pronouncing that right?" He asked politely.

Lera didn't answer.

The man arched his eye brows and nodded.

"Alrighty then. Well hello, you can call me Overlord. I'm one of the officers in charge of assisting the United Nations in building the case against you and your team." He opened the folder and began to shuffle through documents.

The man spoke to her slowly. He thought about what he was going to say before he spoke. He sounded like a yankee.

"Soooo… Dr. Melnikova…you have quite the track record here. Born in Gomel, Belarus on July 1989, making you 28 years of age, three years after the Chernobyl nuclear meltdown…."

Lera stayed calm while he listened to her speak. He was just reading her background info so she wasn't worried.

"…You were born with a birth defect. Neuropathy that includes the slow degeneration of muscles and loss of sensation in the limbs and extremities."

Now she had Lera's attention. She stared at him wide eyed.

 _How the hell do they know about my neuropathy? Nobody knows except for my parents and Doc. I erased it from my record. How did they collect that data?_ She thought to herself.

Overlord continued reading her file.

"But that didn't stop you from pursuing your dreams of going to college. You went to Novosibirsk State University and graduated with a PhD in Microbiology and Immunology yatee yata yata unimportant shit."

Overlord turned a page in her folder.

"While in academia you did lab research where you created, I wouldn't say a cure, but a crutch to slow down the neuropathy in your body called "nanobots." Then you enlisted in the Russian army and managed to wipe the evidence of your neuropathy off your record to avoid being disqualified, which is illegal by the way. You managed to make it into the Russian Spetsnaz as a CBRN specialist and eventually earned a spot in Rainbow using your nanobots gadget to give your team an edge on the battlefield. You've saved hundreds of lives and have become a very important operator to the team. Your nanobots give operators in the field a boost in focus, strength, and athleticism. I say Lera, you have definitely come a long way in your pathetic little life. Bravo."

Overlord closed her file and tossed it at Lera as if it were trash and she was the trash can. The folder slid off the table and paper scattered all over the floor.

Lera didn't say a word. She stared at the man with a look of hatred.

"You're probably wondering, 'man, how did he find out about my health condition if it was erased?' Let's just say it's impossible to keep secrets in this day and age. No secret is safe anymore and when secrets are revealed there are consequences that follow. Special forces are always fighting. Destroying everything in their paths not caring if it's the enemy or innocent women and children, while I have to clean it up, and they think they're safe behind the parts covered by black ink. They think no one can hold them accountable. Rainbow Six had its dirty little secrets revealed, and I am the consequence of that."

Lera continued to sit in silence. The words cut through her like a knife.

"Listen doctor, right now I'm not interested in pursuing your conviction of the war crimes your team has committed just yet. I'm more interested in your nanobots. Tell me about them."

Lera didn't answer.

"Silence is not answer I'm looking for doctor." Overlord getting frustrated.

She still sat in silence.

Overlord leaned back in his chair and sighed.

"I have what you want Lera. I have your medicine. I know how much you've been suffering without it."

Lera closed her eyes trying to tune out Overlord's voice.

"If you tell me about your nanobots. I'll give you your medicine."

Lera thought about the proposition. She needed her medicine before she lost all control of her body and lord only knows how quickly it'll happen.

"Okay. Fine. Give me my medicine first and then I'll talk." Lera demanded.

"Deal!" Overlord said enthusiastically clasping his hands together.

"We'll have to go to my laboratory though."

"Fine by me. Let's go for a walk, shall we? GUARD! LET US OUT!"

A guard came into the room and unhooked Finka from the table. Finka and Overlord walked out of the detention center and made their way toward the medical lab. Soldiers of mixed nationalities hustled about sorting through Rainbow's equipment and anything they thought was important.

They walked into the medical lab. It was partially ransacked from the SEAL raid. The SEALs found Lera holed up in her lab with Gustave when the fighting broke out in the dorms. The walls of the lab were covered in photographs of Lera with her friends, family, and other operators.

"You're gonna have to uncuff me." She said to the guard.

The guard looked at Overlord. He motioned for the guard to uncuff her.

"Try to escape and I'll put a bullet in your skull." The guard said as he uncuffed her.

"Yeah, good luck with that." She scoffed at the comment.

She walked over to a refrigerator and opened the door. She pulled out a syringe of silvery liquid with the name, "Mel" written on the side. She rolled up her sleeve. She injected the shot into one of her veins and pushed the silvery liquid into her blood stream.

She exhaled slowly and placed the syringe in a sharps container.

"You owe me now." Overlord said taking in Lera's desk chair.

"What do you want to know. You already read in my file, so you pretty much know everything already."  
"The nanobots, you can manipulate them?"

"Yes… well it actually depends on the nanobot's purpose."

"Explain." Overlord commanded.

Lera showed him another syringe that had "Mel" written on it.

"These nanobots serve the purpose to fit my personal needs which is stimulating my nervous system, so I never lose feeling in my limbs. They run continuously but only have a lifespan of 24 hours hence why I take daily injections."

"And what about those?" Overlord said pointing to a massive glass closet filled with vials of bluish liquid.

"Those are adrenal boosting nanobots. They're the nanobots you read about in my file. Each operator is injected with a vial before an op. I can turn them on manually through a switch in my glove. The adrenal boost heightens the operator's senses, steadies their aim, and makes them stronger for a short period time. Pretty much what you read in my file is what you see there."

"Do you have any other kinds of nanobots?"

"Let's see, I created nanobots for the hospital to help speed up healing process. I also created nanobots that can fight pathogens. And I made nanobots that can domesticate animals. Rainbow was going to distribute them to help farmers in third world nations like in Africa to help with food supplies. The injection only lasts a few days, so the animals would need regular injections but so far, the results have been positive and we're ready to move on to deployment. That's all I've created so far." Lera explained showing Overlord the different types of nanobots in a different refrigerator. Overlord reached into the fridge and pulled out the nanobots for animal domestication.

"Does this work on humans?" He asked.

"Ummmm no. That's not their intended purpose. You'd probably have to double the dosage or something in order for it to work. Why?"

"Because Lera, 11 of your teammates are currently at large which has the public paranoid. Before the UN proceeds with their court cases, they want those 11 operators found to ease the public eye. I threw everything I had in taking out those operators, but nothing has worked. Meanwhile, I have the world's deadliest soldiers in all of mankind rotting away behind bars." He said rotating syringe in his hand and looking up at Lera.

"Maybe with your gadget, I can put your captured teammates to good use!" Overlord yelled taking the syringe and stabbing Lera in the neck with it. The silvery liquid pushed into her body. Lera fell to the floor holding her neck screaming.

Overlord pulled out a second syringe.

"Double the dosage, right?" He asked and stabbed Lera with the second syringe injecting her with the nanobots.

The guard stood frozen in place struggling to put together what he was witnessing.

Lera began to convulse and wheeze.

" sir, do do do you think we should get help?" The guard asked timidly.

"Shut up." Overlord snapped at the guard watching Lera.

After several minutes, Lera's episode seized. She laid on the floor unconscious and breathing shallowly.

"Lera? Lera? Can you hear me?" Overlord asked nudging her shoulder.

Lera shot up like she'd risen from the dead. She stared straight ahead into empty space.

"Lera… look at me." Overlord commanded snapping his fingers.

Lera stood up and turned slowly toward Overlord.

A devilish grin crept upon Overlord's face.

He began to chuckle to himself.

"Lera, or Finka." He corrected himself. "You'll be under my command from now on. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir." Lera said nodding.

"Good. Follow me."

Overlord, Lera, and the guard walked back to the prison cells.

The operators stood peering out from behind their prison bars at their teammate.

They could all sense something was wrong.

"Elias what's wrong with Lera?" Monika asked.

"I don't know." Elias said watching Lera.

"Who here is the operator with the most CQC experience?" Overlord asked to operators.

None of the operators spoke.

Then James spoke up.

"Guess that'd be me." He said looking around at the other operators.

"James, you egotistical asshole." Mark muttered while facepalming.

Overlord smiled at James.

"Oh, and you are?" He asked.

"James. James Porter, SAS." He said fearlessly.

"Perfect. You'll be my first test subject. Finka, kill James Porter please."

James's face turned pale.

"James, what the hell have you done?" Mark asked backing away from the front of the cell.

Finka walked toward the SAS cell. The guard opened the door and shoved Finka inside locking it behind her.

Lera stared down at James with lust for blood in her eyes.

"Lera, it's me. James. Listen to me; I don't want to hurt you." He said trying to reason with her.

Finka cracked her knuckles and raised her fists.

"Damnit it Lera." James muttered raising his fists getting into a fighting stance that he usually got into when he boxed.

Finka threw a right hook but James ducked under it with ease. He took few a step away from her.

"Come on Finka. I'm waiting." James mocked.

Finka tried throwing a few jabs at James which he deflected. James circled around Finka keeping close to the perimeter of the jail cell as if he were moving around a boxing ring. Finka let out a rebel yell and charged James. James side stepped her but Finka managed to grab a piece of James's leg. She got James into a single leg take down pile driving him to the floor. Finka got on top James and started to throw punches at his face. James kept his hands up protecting his face.

"Mark… a little help… would be nice." James said while blocking Finka's punches.

Mark charged Finka and tried to pull her off of his teammate.

Finka turned with cat like reflexes and punched Mark in the kidney. The other operators gasped at the sound of the impact.

"Fuck me…" Mark squeaked as he stumbled backward and fell.

"Mediocre Mark. Very mediocre." James said looking toward Mark disappointed.

Finka threw a left hook hitting James in the cheek. James managed to get a foot up and kick Finka in the stomach pushing her off of him. Finka stumbled back gasping for breath. James scrambled to his feet.

James knew he was in control of the fight. Finka couldn't break his defense no matter how hard she tried. He was the better fighter.

Finka threw more punches and kicks with unbelievable speed but James deflected and dodged every single one leaving Finka out of breath.

James backed away from her again trying to create distance.

Finka took a step forward ready to charge James.

"STOP!" Overlord yelled.

Finka looked toward Overlord and then back to James. James didn't break eye contact with his opponent.

"Finka, you're done. Go back to your cell. You've done enough. I am pleased with the results." Overlord said smiling.

Finka was escorted back into her cell with Gustave. Gustave stood as far away from Finka as possible with a look of fear in his eyes.

"This isn't over Lera. Things are just getting started." Overlord said to Finka as he walked past her cell.

Lera began to breath heavily. She fell to her knees and looked at her own hands.

"Lera? Are you okay? What did he do to you?" Gustave dared to ask.

"Gustave… the nanobots..."

Gustave realized what Overlord was planning.

"Oh mon dieu… (Oh my God)"

"I felt… like a machine with no control. It was horrifying." She said still trying to catch her breath.

She looked over to James's cell. James stared at her through the prison bars with a serious look.

"I'm sorry James." She muttered to him.

James turned his back to Finka to attend to Mark who was still on the ground groaning.

Lera curled up in a ball on the floor and closed her eyes trying to cope with the fact that she just betrayed her teammates.

…

Overlord sat with his feet propped up on Six's desk reading through operator profiles and looking at both blue and orange team playbooks. Orange team's strategies were defensive in nature. Revolving around holding down an objective with operators using stealthy roamers and anchors to hold lines of sight using their gadgets to help give them an edge in combat. While the orange team operators appeared to be very talented, they didn't possess the skill sets he was looking for. He placed all of orange team's operators to the side and looked at blue team. Blue team consisted of attacking and securing objectives. The operators on blue team possessed the skills and gadgets that Overlord desired. He began to flip through blue team's play book searching for a group of operators that would be best fit for the task he needed complete.

One of the specialized squads on blue team in the playbook caught his attention. He read the section about the particular group of operators and smiled.

"This squad on blue team is perfect and they're all locked up downstairs too." He said to himself.

He looked at the 11 folders that were kept separate from the group of operator profiles. It was the 11 operators that were still at large. Overlord had read their files.

Familiarizing himself with his enemy. Understanding their strength and weaknesses.

Each individual was extremely talented. Taking them out or capturing them would be challenging.

A specific detail caught his attention. He picked up a folder from the 11 missing operators. The file read "Bosak, Elzabieta."

 _I swore I just saw that last name somewhere else._ Overlord thought to himself.

He shuffled through the folders of the other operators and sure enough he found a folder that read "Bosak, Zofia."

"Sisters, eh? Zofia is already locked up. This could add some dynamic to the playing field." He said staring at the two folders.

"Did you find what you were looking for sir?" A guard asked peeking his head inside the office.

"Yes actually. Please retrieve Dr. Melnikova from her cell. We have nanobots to make and a squad to assemble." Overlord ordered.

"Yes sir." The guard acknowledged the order and left the room.


	18. Act II Chapter 18

**Rainbow Six: Undercover**

 **Act II**

 **Chapter 18**

 **Orange Team: The Hunters and the Hunted**

Ela sat by a window with a cup of coffee and her notebook next to a warm hearth. The scenery before her: a beautiful view of the Kremlin lit up in Christmas lights from across the Moskva River during a snowstorm. Ela had been drooling over the view since she discovered it weeks ago and she was happy to finally have the opportunity to sketch it.

Six took a seat in the chair next her.

"Enjoying the view?" She asked scooching closer look at her sketch.

"Yes." Ela said smiling.

Six looked out at the view of the Kremlin in the snowstorm from the third floor of the Kafe Dostoyevsky. She could hear the wind howl past the windows and the skylight above them. The café bustled with activity on all floors. Russians from all around enjoyed their breakfast and socialized with friends. The building was covered in Christmas decorations and Christmas trees. Christmas music and carols played in the various rooms of the café giving it a homely atmosphere.

"Russian winter is interesting. Throughout history it has halted invading armies and killed thousands, yet, it is also strikingly beautiful." Six said still looking out the window.

"Mother Nature's a bitch." Ela said bluntly.

Six laughed at her comment.

"Yes. She sure is."

Six took a sip from her coffee. Their stay in Russia had been going well. The operators were able to find an apartment to hold up in. Six was waiting on a favor from someone who could help them with their predicament with the UN as well as a call from Mike Baker.

Ela was getting restless with all the waiting around. As much as she was enjoying making sketches of the Moscow skyline, what she really wanted was to take her shot at Vanguard but unfortunately that task was assigned to blue team.

Six's phone began to ring.

It was Dominic. She answered the phone.

"Yes?"

"Six, you guys should make your way back. It's not safe for you to be out with such minimal protection."

"Copy that. We'll start making out way back."

She hung up the phone.

"Who was that?" Ela asked.

"Bandit. He wants us to start heading back."

"Let me finish up this sketch and we'll get moving."

"Alright. Hurry it up."

Six waited patiently as Ela finished up her sketch. Six didn't understand why Dominic was so worried about Six's protection. It may not look like it, but Ela was heavily armed who was more than capable of defending her. Ela's Scorpion Evo was compact and fit in her backpack nicely along with her mines and her side arm which was concealed in a holster in her waistband.

Six placed her cup of coffee on a table and watched as the snowstorm began to slow down to a gentle flurry.

"Room for one more?" A female voice asked softly.

Six turned to see Taina Pereira with a cup of tea.

"Sure, but we're getting ready to leave." Six said ushering for her to sit.

"The guys sent me to make sure you make it back okay so its fine."

Taina found a seat and sat with the other two women quietly.

Six had built up a lot of respect for Taina over the years. Despite her shortcomings of completely failing her psych exam and showing sociopathic tendencies that freaked out all of the operators, Taina had proven her worth to Six. She worked hard to move from the Brazilian slums to Rainbow. It was definitely the true definition of a success story.

Six's phone began to ring again.

She picked up the phone and answered.

"Hello?"

All she got was static and then the line failed.

"Who was that?" Ela asked closing up her book and putting away her pencil.

"No idea. All I got was static."

"Must be the storm or something." Ela shrugged.

"You all set? I want to get out of here before I piss off Dominic." Six said getting up and leaning against the railing of the mezzanine overlooking the second floor which was now empty.

 _Empty?_

Six did a double take looking at the now empty second floor. She remembered the café being full of people.

Now it was a ghost town.

Taina rose from her seat seeing Six's worried face.

"Six, what's wrong?" She asked looking worried.

"The café. Wasn't it busy a few minutes ago."

"I mean I guess." Taina said giving Six a strange look.

 _Old lady is probably just a bit paranoid._ Taina thought to herself.

Taina went to grab her cup of tea but noticed something peculiar. The porcelain cup, along with the desk and silverware began to quiver. The tea inside her cup had ripples.

"Does anyone feel that? I may crazy, but it feels like there's an earthquake or something?" Taina said looking at her glass.

 _Taina! Get out of there! It's a trap!_ The voices in Taina's head screamed.

Taina began to look around the room. Everything looked normal. She wanted desperately to flip her mental switch from Taina to Caveira, but she didn't want to do anything rash without knowing the situation completely.

Taina began to use her head thinking of the events that just occurred.

 _A phone call with no answer._

 _Vibrations in the building._

 _Sound familiar Taina?_ The voices said to her.

Taina had seen these things before.

Taina and Ela exchanged nervous glances beginning to put two and two together.

Taina looked up at the sky light above them and saw the silhouette of a figure with a rifle against the cloudy grey sky.

"CONTACT ABOVE!" Taina screamed.

Taina combat rolled as the silhouette fired. She ran as quickly as she could to Six and tackled her behind a bar in the center of the mezzanine.

Ela turned around toward the sound of gunfire and was met a fury of rounds sending her sprinting for cover behind the bar with Taina and Six.

Bullets began to rip the third floor of the café apart. Glass shattered and exploded. Wood splintered. The three women hugged the floor. Ela and Taina unfolded their weapons they had been concealing in their go bags.

"Six, call the guys and get them over here before we get shredded to bits!" Ela commanded.

Taina and Ela peaked out from behind the bar and fired wildly at the skylight missing their targets completely while Six made her phone call.

"DOMINIC?!"

"Six? Are you okay? Is that gunfire I hear?"

"Kafe Dostoyevsky. I need you here pronto. We've been compromised."

"On our way."

Six hung up her phone.

The women heard cannisters clatter along the floor in front of them followed by a pop and hissing. White smoke began to fill the third floor obstructing the women's vision. Bullets continued to rain down upon them destroying the environment around them.

"We need to get the fuck out of here." Ela said loading a fresh magazine into her SMG.

"I have an idea." Taina said unclipping one of her impact grenades. She ran to a room behind the bar near a freezer and tossed the grenade at a wall opening a gaping hole leading to the room adjacent to them. It appeared to be a cigar lounge of some sort. Taina waved for Ela and Six to retreat through the hole in the wall.

"Six we have an exit move your ass!" Ela yelled pushing Six toward the hole in the wall.

"COVERING!" Taina yelled letting out a volley of shots from the safety of the cigar lounge.

Ela escorted Six through the hole in wall.

"Take the door on the left there should be stairs at the end of the hall that'll get us out of here." Taina instructed.

Ela followed Taina's directions as she escorted Six down a narrow hallway toward the staircase. Taina could hear repelling from within the smoke followed by footsteps getting closer to her. She stayed back to see who they were up against.

5 figures came into her view walking casually out of the smoke toward the hole in the wall that Taina created. Taina felt a knot in her stomach and began to take steps back as she saw what they were up against.

"We are so… FUCKED…" Taina muttered.

Leading the 5 figures at the point position was Blitz. To Blitz's left was Dokkaebi and Lion. To Blitz's right was Finka and Jackal. It was blue team's Hunter Killers. They were any roamers worst nightmare. The Hunter Killers were undefeated in matches against orange team and have carried out some of the hardest missions Rainbow has ever taken on with complete success.

Taina turned running for her life trying to catch up with Ela and Six.

"Don't let them get away." Overlord's voice hissed in the blue team's ear pieces as he watched the live video feed coming from a camera attached to Jackal's visor.

Finka nodded to Jackal.

Jackal knelt down and turned on his visor.

"Clean tracks I have a trail." He said scanning the mass of red footprints scattered on the floor.

Jackal's scanner matched the footprints to Taina. His scanner began to ping her active location as they ran down the stairs.

Jackal chuckled at his find.

"Well Caveira, darkness has betrayed you." Jackal said with a devilish grin.

"Where is she going?" Finka asked.

"She's heading down the stairs ahead of us to the second floor."

"You and Blitz pursue. Lion and Dokkaebi come with me we're going to flank around. She'll right to the rest of the group."

Jackal and Blitz sprinted down the hall following Taina's footprints.

Finka, Lion, and Dokkaebi turned around moving toward a different staircase.

Ela, Six, and Taina ran as fast as they could down the stairs colliding with Marius, Dominic, Alexandr, and Maxim.

"SHIT!" Marius screamed almost falling down the down the stairs as he knocked into Ela. Dominic almost went over the railing bumping into Taina.

"Guys, it's the Hunter Killers from blue team we need to get out of here right now!" Ela screamed.

"Seriously? I thought the Rainbow Six operators got arrested." Maxim said looking up the stairs not believing Ela.

Maxim was met by a flash from Blitz's shield. He stumbled back shrieking and holding his face. Blitz began to fire his pistol rapidly from the stair case landing. Jackal knelt on the edge of stairs firing his AR.

Marius tried lining up the sights of his ACOG on his 4-16 with Jackal. He fired but missed. The suppressive fire was enough to make Jackal take cover and stop firing.

Dominic and Taina fired at Blitz's shield pushing him back up the stairs with Jackal.

"Come on Maxim I gotcha! Follow my lead!" Alexandr yelled guiding the blinded Maxim back down the stairs.

The rest of the operators followed.

Except for Taina.

Taina stood on the second floor by the stairs continuing to fire at Blitz and Jackal.

"TAINA WHAT ARE YOU DOING? LET'S GO!" Dominic yelled at her.

Ela ran back up the stairs and helped Taina with the suppressive fire.

"Taina we don't have time for this let's move!" Ela shouted at her.

"No! Get out of here! I'll hold them off!" She said loading her last mag into her SMG.

"Negative Taina! We stay together!" Dominic said.

"Dominic, Jackal is tracking my footsteps. If I stay with you I'll only be leading them to us."

She lowered her SMG and looked Dominic dead in the eyes.

"This is the end of the road for me." Taina said.

"Taina I won't let you split off. Last time we did something like that we ended up losing one of our own. I'm not making that mistake again. I'm not gonna lose another friend."

Jackal and Blitz began to gain confidence and return fire.

"Taina don't be stupid! We can shake them!" Ela said throwing a Grzmot Mine up the stairs. It exploded with a thunderous boom silencing Jackal and Blitz again. The operators began to hear footsteps coming from the library next to them.

"No, we can't. I'm sorry." Taina said.

The building's structure began to shutter from Lion's drone scanning. The three operators knew how to counter it and stood still. Their phones began to buzz as well. They pulled out their phones. Their screens flashed with Dokkaebi's logic bomb symbol. Ela and Dominic silenced their phones.

Taina let her phone keep vibrating.

"Taina, please don't do this. We can figure out a way." Dominic begged.

Taina emptied her last magazine at Jackal and Blitz's position and tossed her SMG to the ground. She walked over to Dominic exposing her position on Lion's drone.

Taina took Dominic's hand in hers and kissed him on the cheek.

Dominic looked at her surprised. Ela watched her in shock.

Taina put but her hand on Dominic's covered face.

"Dominic, you worry too much. Go now. I'll be fine." She said flashing him an innocent smile. Without her face paint and in normal civilian clothes, Taina had a beautiful, innocent looking smile. You'd never guess she was someone who took extreme pleasure in inflicting violence upon others.

Taina removed her hand from Dominic's face. She drew Lusion from the back of the waistband of her pants and sprinted down the hallway toward a train museum on the other end of the hall. Dominic watched her run away. She disappeared out of sight when she turned the corner at the end of the hallway.

The building stopped shuttering as the Lion's drone scan ended.

"Ela, lets go." Dominic muttered hoping she'd turn around and come back. He felt foolish to think she'd do such a thing.

"Right behind you." Ela said hoping Taina would come back to them.

They ran down the stairs and exited through a garage door at the back of the café. Alexandr was waiting in a black SUV that the men had used to get to the café when Six called for help.

"Where's Taina?" Alexandr asked.

"She stayed behind. Now go before they see us." Dominic commanded.

Alexandr cursed in Russian as he put the SUV in drive and sped away leaving Taina and the café behind.

"Finka, targets are moving toward the train museum. They might try to ambush you so be ready." Jackal radioed as he watched Taina's ping move toward the center of the building.

"Copy that. Continue your pursuit. We'll pinch in from the other side."

Taina entered the train museum. There were two train cars, a green car along the back wall of the museum and a grey car in the center of the room with antique train parts in display cases surrounding it. Taina stood in the center of the room between the two train cars waiting for her pursuers. She could her Jackal and Blitz rushing through the dining room adjacent to the train museum on her right . She also heard footsteps coming from the opposite end of the museum. There was an explosion through dining room wall as Blitz ran through it flashing her with his shield.

Taina raised her hand over her face shielding her eyes and fired her side arm impacting Jackal in the shoulder.

Jackal dropped his weapon and fell to the ground grimacing.

Blitz sprinted at her with his shield raised. He swung his shield but Taina took a step back and kicked the now exposed Blitz in the chest sending him toppling backward. Dokkaebi turned the corner around the train car in the center of the room firing her SMG side arm.

Taina combat rolled into a green train car and fired at Dokkaebi hitting her center mass. She dropped to the floor.

Finka and Lion used the train car in the center of the room as cover and put down massive amounts of suppressive fire between Lion's drum mag assault rifle and Finka's PKM light machine gun. Taina returned fire missing. She went to reload but noticed she was out of ammo.

Because her team was always on the move Taina packed light and didn't bring many mags with her. Now she was paying the price for packing light.

Finka and Lion suddenly stopped firing.

Taina heard clanking footsteps come from her right side. Blitz entered Taina's train car and sprinted toward her. She unclipped her last grenade from her belt and went to throw it, but Blitz was faster.

He flashed her with his shield again completely blinding her this time. His flash was followed by a strong swing of his shield impacting Taina right below the jaw. She flew out of train car and hit the concrete ground hard. Her impact grenade flew out of her hands hitting the roof and harmlessly exploded. Lusion had also flown out of her hands and disappeared.

Taina struggled to her knees and was met by a hard kick to face by Blitz knocking her onto her back. Blitz put his sneaker on her sternum and aimed his pistol at her head.

"This is where your journey ends." He said pulling back the draw on his pistol.

"Blitz, keep her alive. Overlord can deal with her." Finka said placing a hand on his shoulder.

"So be it." He said taking his foot off of Taina's sternum.

Taina kicked Blitz and rolled backward drawing her knife.

Blitz took aim with his pistol.

"Please let me kill her Finka. This woman always freaked me out." He said taking aim with his pistol.

Taina stood trying to catch her breath clutching her knife in her hand.

Her once pretty face was now badly bloodied.

"Negative. Let me handle this." Finka said dropping her LMG. She pulled out the knife that her mentor Maxim had cut her face with years ago in Spetsnaz training which he then gave to her as a gift when she graduated. She spun the knife in her fingers demonstrating her skill with the knife.

Taina chuckled at the gesture.

"Finka. Are you sure about this?" Lion asked looking at her concerned.

"I'm positive. Go treat Dokkaebi and Jackal." Finka said eyeing up her opponent.

Taina smiled.

"Alright Lera, show me what Maxim taught you and I'll show you what I can do." Taina said raising her hands to fight.

Lera charged Taina and swung her knife with lightning speed. Taina dodged and parried the swings. Lera mixed up which hands she swung her knife with by flipping the knife into the air and catching in the other hand. Finka's dexterity with a knife impressed Taina but her attacks were easy to defend against.

Blitz sat back and watched the fight while Lion tended to their downed comrades.

Finka raised her knife up high to swing downward which exposed her stomach. Taina kicked her in stomach forcing her backward into the side of the train car in the middle of the room.

Now Taina was on the offensive. She grabbed Finka's head and kneed her hard in the face cracking the hazmat mask she always wore. She then punched her in the stomach multiple times before finishing with an uppercut below her chin. Finka fell to the floor. Taina pounced striking downward with her knife but Finka was ready stopping her strike by raising her foot to catch Taina.

She kicked Taina in the face knocking her backward and turned her around. Finka came up from behind Taina and suplexed Taina headfirst into the concrete floor. Taina quickly rose to her feet dizzy and wanting to throw up. Her vision blurred in an out. Finka sprung to her feet and swung her knife at Taina who took steps back dodging each strike. Taina eventually found herself pinned against the wall with Finka closing the gap with her knife swings. Taina parried a knife strike with her own knife but Taina's grip had weakened. Taina's knife fell out of her hands and clattering to the floor away from her. Finka swung her knife from over her head downward toward Taina aiming for the neck. Taina blocked the strike with both her forearms leaving the two operators in strength battle to see who could resist who. While Taina was concentrated on holding back Finka's superior strength, Finka let her knife slide out of her hand right hand.

The knife looked like it was going to fall to the floor, but she caught it in her left hand and stabbed upward into Taina's ribs.

Taina gasped in pain as she felt all the air leave her body. She felt all of her strength slip away as Finka overpowered her. Finka grabbed Taina by her throat and threw away from the wall. Taina stumbled back clasping at the knife in her chest. Finka grabbed Taina's arm and with a swift judo move she spun and flipped Taina over her back smashing her into the floor.

Finka knelt down over Taina and pried the knife out of her chest. Taina cried out in pain as blood began to pour out of the wound. She put her hands over the wound to stop the bleeding but the blood pooled through her fingers and continued to gush out.

Fink stood over her victorious. She placed her hand on her earpiece.

"Overlord, this is Finka. One fugitive down, ten to go. Unfortunately, Six and the other operators got away." She said.

"Don't worry Finka you did excellent work. I have the Russian authorities en route to assist you."

"Lion, how's are they?" Finka said pointing to Jackal and Dokkaebi who were now on their feet staring at Taina.

"Their body armor caught Taina's rounds. It's not like Taina to shoot at the body armor. She knows better then to do that. Its almost like she was aiming there on purpose… so she wouldn't hurt them." Lion said inspecting Dokkaebi's and Jackal's armor.

Taina laid on her back staring at the ceiling. She listened to Finka's voice fade away as blood began to pool around her. The smell of pennies made her nauseous. She began to feel afraid as her vision began to slowly white out.

Her mind began to race.

She knew this would happen to her eventually. She always knew she wouldn't last very long on this Earth because of all the things that were wrong with her. She thought she was ready to meet her maker but now that she was literally about to, she wasn't sure if she was as ready as she thought she was.

After Taina had found out about Meaghan's passing she wondered if she'd get to meet Meaghan again after she died or if she'd be taken to someplace different. Someplace where terrible people like her belonged.

But she never thought her teammates would be ones to arrange the meeting.

 **Author Note:**

Hope you all enjoyed the chapter! As always thank you for taking the time to read my story! I love all my readers and the feedback I get from you guys! I've been trying to write back to a lot of the people who have been leaving feedback or have messaged me asking questions about the story so if you have any questions about the story or what goes on in my head feel free to ask and I will try to answer! Also, unfortunately for me, college has started once again. I'm in my senior year as an electrical engineering student so things are going to get a little busy for me which will affect how frequently I upload new chapters so please bear with me. I will do my absolute best to manage time between my classes and writing new chapters. See you in the next chapter!


	19. Act II Chapter 19

**Rainbow Six: Undercover**

 **Act II**

 **Chapter 19**

 **A Familiar Voice**

"Along with today's news, the public continues to panic as 11 heavily armed and dangerous terrorists from the unit Rainbow Six are still at large with their whereabouts unknown. The UN is using all of its resources available to track down the terrorists and have made a statement that if anyone spots any suspicious activity, to report it to the authorities immediately. We'll have more after the break."

The television inside the store front cut to a commercial.

Eliza kicked a rock on the side walk and walked down the block. She rubbed her hands together and breathed into them trying to warm her hands.

The snow had been relentless in Seoul, South Korea and it finally eased up enough for the operators to go outside.

Eliza walked down the city sidewalk keeping her head low as she pushed past pedestrians. Up ahead of her was her objective, Mok Myeok Tower, standing tall in the city center. She walked through the doors of the tower pretending to be a tourist visiting the city.

She found an elevator that could take her to the top of the tower. When she entered the elevator, she saw a security guard standing in the back corner. Eliza went to push a button taking her to the top floor, but the security guard swatted her hand away.

"No." He said.

"Excuse me?"

"No tourists on the upper levels. Authorized personal only. Trespassers will be prosecuted."

"Well shit."

She walked out of the elevator and sat on a nearby bench thinking about her next move.

She needed eyes on those upper levels.

She noticed the business people who worked on the upper levels wore special yellow tags that allowed them to go up the elevator. Eliza saw a small crowd of business people walking to the elevator. As the elevator doors opened, Eliza reached into her handbag and pulled out her recon drone. She placed it on the ground and by using her phone wheeled it into elevator using the people's feet as cover.

Eliza rested her head on her hand as if she were bored while she waited for the drone to reach the top.

"Mike, drone made it in. Getting to the top floors will be difficult. We'll need identification." She whispered.

"Roger that. Connecting to your feed… okay I'm connected."

The drone made it to the top of the tower. The architecture was remarkable. The building was surrounded by glass acting as a greenhouse for plants. There were offices scattered around the two floors of the upper part of the tower. Eliza droned out the entire building while Mike recorded the drone data.

"Eliza we're looking for a woman named Jess."

"I know, I know, but are you seeing these security guards Mike? They aren't like the mall cops on the lower levels. These guys got rifles, body armor, and grenades."

"Yeah I see that… Eliza turn your drone around and go underneath that office door." Mike commanded.

Eliza moved the drone under the door which lead to a large office. Inside a young Korean woman sat at her desk talking to someone on the phone.

Her name plate on her desk said Jess.

"Bingo." Mike said.

"So, do we have a green light?" Eliza asked.

"Affirmative."

"Copy. I'm holding position. Waiting on you."

Eliza hid the drone in Jess's office out of her sight.

After an hour of waiting, the rest of blue team strolled through the front door of the tower. They saw Eliza patiently waiting on her bench.

Mike took a seat next to her.

"We need to snag those identification cards to get up to the upper levels." Eliza said.

"Yeah I thought about it while walking here. You'll have to steal one. Head on over to lady's room and test your luck. We'll try the men's room." Mike said motioning to the bathrooms across the room.

"Copy."

Eliza walked into the nearest women's rest room. Craig, Mike, Jordan, and Seamus walked into the men's room.

The bathroom was lined with people washing their hands and going about their business. Seamus walked into a man with a name tag clipped to his jacket. The man dropped his things. Seamus apologized and snatched the name tag off his jacket without him noticing.

Craig copied Seamus. Mike snagged a pass off a man's backpack while he was taking a leak. Jordan was a little more clumsier and body checked a man over and stole his tag while helping him back up. The men walked out of the bathroom with their acquired name tags. Eliza was outside waiting also wearing a tag.

"How did you get yours?" Mike asked.

"I just so happened to find one on the floor." Eliza shrugged.

"Wow, lucky you." Jordan said rolling his eyes.

They walked to the elevator. They went to a different elevator that would take them to the upper levels, so Eliza wouldn't get recognized by the guard that saw her previously.

The operators walked into an elevator with their backpacks pretending to be journalists. The security guard saw the special tags and let them up to the upper levels.

Eliza felt tension in the elevator as it made the climb upward. She could tell everyone was a little nervous.

No one had their backs. There were no reinforcements coming for them. No hot extraction if things went wrong.

The elevator dinged, and the doors opened to a bustling office scene. People walked around to other people's offices talking business. Men wearing all black carrying assault weapons patrolled the hallways and stood guard. The office people in the building looked nervous around the heavily armed guards.

Mike saw an access leading upstairs. He nodded at the door.

"Let's move." He whispered, and the operators walked casually to the stairs.

The operators slipped through the door leading to the roof. He locked the door behind them.

"Holy fuck its cold." Eliza said beginning to shiver.

"Get used to it because we're gonna be out here for a while." Jordan said throwing his pack to the ground.

After hours of waiting a thousand feet in the air on the frigid rooftop of the tower, nightfall came.

The snow fell softly from the heavens. There was a crisp winter breeze. The city skyline around them was lit up in bright beautiful lights and hummed with the usual sounds of city life.

The operators shook the snow off of them and changed into their combat uniforms. They unpacked their weapons and checked their gadgets.

Mike approached Eliza who was now in her FBI SWAT uniform but still shivering from the cold. Her nose and cheeks were red.

"You good?" He asked her.

"Just a little frozen but yeah I'm good." She said smiling at him.

"Good. You're breaching first. Craig will have your back with his DMR."

"Don't worry Mike I have the plan all up here." Eliza said pointing to her head.

Craig looked at his wrist watch.

"Its time. Eliza, check your drone." Craig commanded.

Eliza pulled out her phone and looked at the drone feed. Sure enough Jess was still at her desk working late.

"Intel is dead on. VIP is staying in late." She said.

"Alright, let's do this." Craig nodded at her.

Eliza and Craig walked to the edge of the tower. Eliza made the mistake of looking down over the edge. The cars down below looked like tiny ants.

Eliza exhaled slowly trying to relax her nerves. She could see her breath dissipate into the cold air.

Eliza clipped the rope of her repelling harness to the railing. Craig followed suit. They both made eye contact with each other briefly.

Eliza swung her legs over the railing so her whole body was off the edge. She held onto the railing with her right hand. Her R4-C in the left.

She released the railing trusting the rope holding on to her to prevent her from falling a thousand feet to her death.

Eliza looked at her drone feed one last time making sure Jess was still in her office. She then reached into her pocket and pulled out her sunglasses. She placed the sunglasses over her eyes.

"Ready to breach. Craig you ready?" She said over coms.

Craig placed his ballistic rifle shield on top of his DMR.

"Ready."

…

"Hello?"

"Hey its me."

"Jess, you shouldn't be calling my phone. You know its dangerous to talk like this."

"I don't think I can do this anymore."

"What do you mean?"

"The journalism. I can't do it anymore. I've painted a target on my back. I can't live like this anymore."

"Jess, my men are protecting you over there, right?"

"Yeah but still."

"Do you need more protection?"

"You could give me an entire army and I'd still feel scared."

"But what you're doing is important Jess. You can't stop now. We've achieved more then we could ever imagine for the good of the world."  
"I don't know. I just don't know."

"Jess, you'll be fine. Nothing is going to happen."

"Hey, let me put you on hold for one second someone's knocking on my door."

"Okay."

…

…

…

…

"Hello Vanguard."

"Who is this?"

"You don't remember me? I'm hurt."

"Michael Baker..."

"There we go. I knew you wouldn't forget."

"I'm surprised you of all operators escaped the UN."

"I may be old, but I still got some pep in my step."

"Well you should at least be thankful for how famous I made you and your team."

"I'm about to make you famous real soon."

"Oh yeah? How are you going to do that?"

"By finding you and forcing a confession out of you."

"If you think you'll be able to find me, you're crazy."

"Your arrogance blinds you Vanguard. I made a promise to someone to find you and I never go back on my word."

"A promise to who? That idiot blonde of a Navy SEAL? She's dead Mike. Revenge won't bring her back. Besides, she was weak. She wouldn't last much longer on this planet anyway."

"That's not for you decide. Meaghan had her whole life ahead of her. She trusted you. And you betrayed her. Better sleep with eye open. Now excuse me while my team and I lay waste to your men. Bye bye now."

Mike hung up the phone.

Eliza stood with her suppressed M1911 in Jess's face. Jess began to cry.

Eliza pushed the suppressor of her pistol into Jess's mouth shutting her up.

"If you make so much as a peep. I'll put a bullet in your fucking skull. You hear me?" She threatened.

Jess frantically shook her head acknowledging her.

"Mike. 5 hostiles approaching. We clear to smoke em?" Craig asked. Craig was suspended off the side of the tower upside down covering the hallway leading to Jess's office through a window with his DMR. He moved his crosshairs on the 5 enemies approaching Jess's office. Jordan had a flashbang ready in his hand.

"Stand by. Seamus, what's your status?"

"Drone says I got a few bad guys below me where I'm at. I'll clear the first floor while your team clears the second. Just say the word." Seamus said through the radio.

"Keep standing by Craig." Mike said pulling out his EMP grenade.

"Lights out." Mike said as he rolled his EMP grenade into the hallway.

The grenade exploded shutting off every electronic device in the tower. All the rooms went dark as the tower lost power.

"Weapons free." He whispered over comms.

The 5 white masks Craig was watching stopped and put white hockey masks over their faces.

"Jordan, do it." Craig muttered.

Jordan tossed a flashbang through the window.

The flashbang exploded sending the masked men to their knees holding their eyes.

Craig fired his DMR landing a shot into one of White Mask's forehead. He transitioned to the next and fired rinse and repeat till all 5 were dead.

Another White Mask out Craig's sight turned a corner and fired at Craig cracking his rifle shield.

"That's a mistake." Craig said and fired at the White Mask hitting him center mass.

Seamus used his sledge hammer and smashed a hatch in the floor of one of the offices. 4 White Masks looked up to see Seamus's boots falling toward them. He landed on one terrorist. Seamus pulled out his Sledge hammer and bludgeoned his way through the other 3 like he had done in Afghanistan years ago.

He crunched their skulls with his hammer showering himself in the blood of his enemies.

White Masks tried to push into Jess's office, but Eliza and Mike gunned them down before they could put a foot in the door. After about 30 minutes of surprise attacking their targets by using the cover of the darkness, the tower was secure.

The operators regrouped to Jess's office to begin their interrogation. Eliza kept her pistol pointed at the back of Jess's head.

"Alright Jess, I don't have time for games. Answer the questions and I won't kill you for conspiring with terrorists."

"Terrorists? Miles was a terrorist?"

"He never told you about the group he's a part of?"

"No! All he told me was he was a CIA agent. I thought those guards were apart of the government or something."

"Then that makes the two of us. Where is he hiding? And don't fucking lie to me."

"I don't know where he is!" She began to break down to tears. "I swear to God that's all I know. He never told me anything."

Eliza butted the barrel of her pistol into back of Jess's head and pulled back the hammer.

"START THINKING BECAUSE YOU'RE RUNNING OUT OF TIME!"

"I DON'T KNOW I SWEAR!"

"Thatcher, can we just waste this woman already? Clearly this is a dead end." Eliza said getting frustrated.

Thatcher slammed his fist on Jess's desk in frustration knocking over a lamp on the corner of her desk. The gesture was enough to make Eliza jump.

He got into Jess's face.

"Do you not understand what your actions have done? You've managed to shut the world's counter terrorism unit down under a false deciare to aid the most dangerous terrorist network in the world. This isn't fucking Al Qaeda, this isn't the fucking Taliban, this is something on a whole other level that the world can't handle without us. Now think really hard about all the times you talked to him."

"He said something about it being really cold and he knew a personal secret about an operator. He's gonna use it to find her."

"Her?"

"Yeah and that's the only thing he's ever told me."

"I'm not the only female operator in our unit so you need to be more specific." Eliza said.

Mike took a seat on Jess's desk in deep thought.

Cold weather? Mike knew a lot of cold places in the world so that didn't really help.

Personal secrets of a female operator? There was one other female operator in the shadow element that worked with Vanguard.

"Jesus Christ…" Mike muttered.

"What is it mate?" Seamus asked looking at him with concern.

A specific conversation he had while undercover in Ramadi played on repeat in his head.

 _I know you trained us on keeping our heads focused on the mission and what not, but do you ever think about your family when you're out on missions?_

"Ela." He said.

"What about her." Seamus asked.

"Mike, what do you mean?" Craig jumped in.

"If you didn't know, Zofia has a daughter and she won't let Ela be an aunt. Ela and Zo have been burying that secret for years. Vanguard already knows that 11 of us escaped. All he had to do was watch the new to figure that out. He must know that Ela is one of the operators that escaped. He's going to use Ela's niece to draw her out."

"Holy shit." Eliza whispered.

"We need to tell her and figure something out. Jess when did he tell you that bit of information."

"Like a long time ago. I really don't remember."

"Then we may already be too late."

 **Author's Note:**

As always thanks for reading and your feedback! (: Thinking about having a cover image created for the story just to jazz it up a little. Anyone know any good R6 artists who could make one? See you in the next chapter!


	20. Act II Chapter 20

**Rainbow Six: Undercover**

 **Act II**

 **Chapter 20**

 **A Fallen Angel**

 _Where am I?_

 _What's going on?_

" _Taina."_

" _Who said that?"  
"Taina!"_

" _WHAT?"_

" _Meghan is that your voice I hear?"_

" _Yes. Listen. You're in trouble. You need to wake up!"_

" _Wha… what I…"_

" _TAINA WAKE UP!"_

Taina felt an impact across her face.

She sagged her head and spit a gob of blood on the floor. She looked up to see her attacker. It was a man in an unmarked military uniform. Finka stood behind him. The room was dark, so it was hard to see their facial features.

A bead of water dripped onto the back of neck. She felt the cold-water droplet slide down her spine making her shiver. Taina found herself strapped to a chair in what looked like a dungeon.

She felt nodes attached to her forehead, an IV in her arm, and nodes attached to her chest. She could hear a heart monitor beeping to her left side. The area where she was stabbed felt tender.

"Taina? Can you hear me now?" The man asked.

"Fuck you."

"I'll take that as a yes! I'm Overlord! It's finally nice to meet you Taina!" He said joyfully.

"Why didn't you let me die?"

The man laughed at her question.

"Let you die? No way Jose! Good thing your pal Finka is a doctor with nanobots. I need you! You have information on the missing operators."

He leaned in close to her face.

"And you're gonna give it to me."

"You can try. I'm an interrogator. You don't think I know all the tricks in the book?" Taina sneered.

"You may know all the tricks in the book, but have you tried all the tricks in the book?"

Taina stayed silent.

"I read in your file that you suffer from antisocial personality disorder."

"I wouldn't say 'suffer,' but I yes I've been diagnosed with it."

"I find it funny that a mentally ill person is aloud to work on an elite counter terrorist unit."

"I'm not mentally ill."

"Not according to your medical records. I've also seen how Rainbow treats you. Assigning you a handler to follow you everywhere you go. Locking you away in your dorm on your own floor away from everyone else. Giving you a curfew. Having to ask to go places. That doesn't sound like fair living arrangements."

Taina rolled her eyes. A person as ignorant as Overlord would never understand what Rainbow has done to help deal with her mental health. She didn't mind her handler. She her safe from her own self. Her handler also respected her personal space and sometimes came to points where Taina had no idea she was with her. Taina is a recluse on base for most of the time so she enjoyed having her own floor and room to herself. Taina never, ever, stayed up late unless on mission and she never asked to go places. She just had to let her handler know what she was doing.

"Are you aware of the CIAs experiments on mental health in the 1950s and 60s?" Overlord asked.

"No."

"I think it was in 1955. The CIA ran experiments on sociopaths to find a cure to their mental illness. They used all sorts of treatments. Like giving them LSD and crazy shit like that. But they found the most progress using electrocution therapy."

Taina's face turned pale.

"Those nodes attached to your head will send 2,000 volts of electricity to your brain for every question you fail to answer. If you pass out from the shocks, Finka will revive you with a shot of nanobots. We'll continue all night until I get what I want. It's a win win scenario, well at least for me it is. Either I get the information on your friends or we cure your mental health making you easier to deal with. Worse comes to worse, you die. We clear?"

Taina began to breath heavily as fear built up inside her.

"So, I'll get right to the pont. Where are your friends?"  
Taina squeezed her eyes shut bracing to be shocked.

"Silence is the wrong answer." Overlord said pressing a button on a black remote.

2,000 volts of electricity arched through Taina's body. Taina grimaced and tried to breath as her body spasmed from the shocks. The heart monitor beeped frantically next her.

The operators in the jail, which were in the next room over, looked up at the ceiling lights with curiosity as they began to blink on and off.

Overlord held the button for 10 seconds and let go. The nodes stopped shocking leaving Taina gasping for breath.

"Let's try again. Where are they?" Overlord asked again politely.

"Shock me again please."

"As you wish." Overlord said upping the voltage on the nodes. He pressed the button and Taina was shocked harder than the first time. Her body began to spasm in the chair. She grimaced and gritted her teeth trying not to scream.

Overlord made this shock last longer. He held it for 15 seconds and released the button and released it.

Taina gasped for air again. Her skin felt hot. She was drenched in sweat. The heart monitor was beeping out of control.

"WHERE ARE THEY!" Overlord yelled in frustrated.

"SHOCK ME FILHO DA PUNTA!" Taina yelled back at him.

Overlord cranked the voltage even higher and held the button.

Taina let out a blood curdling scream as the electricity arched through her entire body.

The operators picked up their heads hearing the screaming as the ceiling lights flashed faster than before.

After 15 seconds of being shocked Taina eventually went unconscious. The cardiac monitor attached to her chest flatlined as she went into cardiac arrest.

"God damnit. Finka, bring her back please." Overlord commanded turning off the electrocution device.

Taina found herself in a room of complete whiteness. This time instead of only being able to hear Meghan, she could actually see her this time. Meghan had her arms wrapped around her holding her tight. Despite looking pale and tired Meghan's figure glowed and she felt very warm.

"You're okay Taina. You're okay." Meghan said stroking her hair.  
"Why won't they let me die already?" Taina asked emotionally.

"You're gonna make it through this Taina. You're doing amazing. You're so strong." Meghan said soothingly trying to encourage her.

Taina felt something pulling her out of Meghan's grasp.

"Don't let me go." Taina begged.

"I'm sorry Taina." Meghan said and let go of Taina.

Taina felt an impact in her ribs right where she had been stabbed. She yelped at the impact as she was brought back to reality.

"She's alive!" Overlord yelled joyously.

"I'm ready for more shocks." Taina muttered.

"Then that's what you'll get."

Overlord pressed the shock button and Taina screamed as she felt the flow of electricity surge through her body.

Tears streamed down her face.

All she wanted was to die. It was what she wanted most.

The operators in the other room lowered their heads as they continued listening to the screaming. The anxiety from the screams of the tortured subject began to take a toll on the operators. Tina and Monika began to cry. James gripped the bars of his cell wishing he could break free and rescue whoever was being tortured. Captain Vicente Souza sat in the corner of his cell staring at the floor. With every scream he closed his eye trying to tune it out. He recognized the voice of his BOPE colleague suffering and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

The screaming suddenly went silent again making everyone pick their heads up.

"HIT HER WITH THE NANOBOTS AGAIN!" A man's voice screamed startling some of the operators.

Taina found herself laying on her back with Meghan cradling her in her arm. Meghan looked down on Taina with her tired eyes. She watched Taina with a pained expression.

"I don't think I can go on much longer..." Taina managed to say. Her tongue felt paralyzed, so it was hard for her to speak.  
Meghan wiped the tears from Taina's eyes. She gripped Taina's hand in hers.

"Don't give up hope. I'm right here. You're not alone." Meghan said softly to her.

Taina felt herself being yanked from Meghan's grasp again. The girls tried to hang on to each other's hands for as long as they could. Taina felt her grip slip and she found herself back in the chair with Overlord and Finka.

"Ready for more? Or do you want to cooperate? Your call." Overlord said to her.

Taina couldn't make out Finka's face very well but she looked dead on the inside having to watch her friend be tortured to such an extreme. She may be under control of Overlord's influence, but it didn't mean her feelings were erased.

"Please…just…. kill me…" Taina murmured bowing her head.

"Sorry Taina. I can't do that. Looks like the pain continues." Overlord went to press the button to continue the shocking.

"SIR!" A man's voice said from Taina's right.

"What?!"

"Sir there was a situation at Seoul, South Korea. A South Korean journalist was just kidnapped from her workplace last night. Security footage reveals that it was the Rainbow Six operators that escaped."

"Show me."

"Sir what about the prisoner?"

Overlord turned to Finka.

"You go back to your lab. I sent Mr. Chandler from the SAS to assist you in developing more nanobots."

Overlord turned his attention to Taina. He unclipped the electrical nodes, the IV, the heart monitor, and the restraints.

Taina's stared at her feet not having the strength to pick up her head. Overlord gripped her by the bangs of her hair, so she was forced to look at him.

"This isn't over." Overlord whispered to her. He hit her with an unexpected punch to the side of her head sending her flying out of the chair and knocking her out.

"Sir." A guard mustered.

"What?"

"Don't you think we're being too hard on some of these operators?"

"They're terrorists. They endangered American lives. They killed innocent civilians and revealed secrets. They deserve what we're giving them. The UN supports it."

The soldier lowered his head frowning. Overlord got into the guard's face.

"Why are you asking? Do you feel sorry for them? Are you okay with our boys over seas being slain by these people? If you're gonna sympathize with them then maybe I should throw you in prison with them."  
"No I just thought…"

"Shut the fuck up and do your job. Nobody's paying you to think."

"Yes sir."

Overlord grabbed Taina by her arm and dragged her to the prison.

The operators in their cells stood to get a better look at the commotion.

They gasped and whispered nervously to other operators when they noticed Taina was the one being dragged into the room. Overlord threw her into an empty cell next to Timur and Shurat.

Taina fell face first onto the concrete floor of her jail cell and didn't move.

"Don't touch her. If you do, you die." Overlord said pointing at the two Russian operatives as they stared at their lifeless teammate through the bars of their jail cell.

Overlord stormed out of the room with the guards.

Timur looked to make sure the coast was clear before speaking.

"Taina? Can you hear me?" Timur called out.

She didn't move or react to his voice. The Russians could see the steam flowing off her skin and blood beginning to pool around her head and torso.

The operators stared helplessly at Taina unsure of what to do.

"Timur, keep watch." Shruat whispered and reached his hand through the cell bars for Taina.

"Be swift Shurat." Timur said moving to the front of the cell to keep watch.

The operators watched the Russians nervously from their cells as they conducted their rescue mission.

Shurat was just out of reach of grabbing Taina's shirt.

"Sukin syn (Son of a bitch)." Shurat cursed in Russian.

"Kakiye (what)?" Timur asked looking over to his frustrated teammate.

"Ya ne mogu dobrat'sya do neye (I can't reach her)."

Timur heard footsteps approaching them. The other operators began to discreetly give signals that someone was coming.

"Stop. Kto-to idet. (Someone is coming)." Timur whispered yanking Shurat away from Taina's cell.

The operators pretended to mind their own business as a guard walked by the cells. Timur and Shurat exchanged nervous glances with each other and at Taina as more blood seemed to be pooling around her.

Once the guard was gone Timur reached between the bars with all his might got a finger around the neck of Taina's shirt.

"Got her." He said and pulled her body toward him.

He could hear the operators watching the Russians from their cells breath a sigh of relief.

Taina's blood streaked along the floor as Timur pulled her toward him. He positioned her against the bars separating their two cells from each other.

"Shurat, help me." Timur whispered ripping a hole in Taina's white shirt where the blood was coming from.

"She has a few popped stitches between her 9th and 10th rib. Looks like she got cut pretty good." Shurat said putting pressure on the wound.

Timur examined her temple. There was a small laceration on the side of her head making her beautiful blackish brown hair sticky smell of copper. Timur began to put pressure on the wound and felt for a pulse.

He could feel an extremely weak and threaded pulse. Her breaths were slow and shallow. Her life was circling the bottom of the drain.

"Her skin feels really hot." Shurat said looking up at Timur.

"And she barely has a pulse and her breaths are shallow. She's out of time." Timur said to Shurat with a grave look on his face.

Shurat looked down at his dying teammate.

"Just keep providing care Glazkov." He whispered as he continued to try and stop the bleeding.

Timur nodded.

"Of course." Timur said and continued to treat her head injury through the prison bars.

Timur wished Siu Mei, callsign Ying, could see Shurat like this. Siu had filed a complaint against Shurat saying that he had little to no regard for human life which resulted in them having a huge fight that Eliza had to break up.

Yet here he is risking his life to take care of a teammate barely hanging to their life.

…

"Tell me what you found." Overlord commanded.

"From the looks of the security cameras it's definitely blue team." Dokkaebi said pointing at the figures on a black and white camera screen.

Overlord could make out Seamus bludgeoning three shooters to death with a sledge hammer. Mike, Eliza, Craig, and Jordan carrying Jess out of the tower and escaping.

"They also had a phone conversation that was pretty interesting." Dokkaebi said handing Overlord some headphones.

Overlord listened to a conversation between Mike Baker and Vanguard.

"Do you know who Vanguard is?" Dokkaebi asked.

"I have to go. Thank you for telling me this information Dokkaebi you've been a vital asset." Overlord said and rushed out of the room.

Overlord walked into the prison and marched over to one of the cells and unlocked it. The operator inside rose to their feet.

"Its time." He said.

…

"I want to know why of all operators here, Overlord sent me to work with you. Why couldn't he drug Gustave with the slave driving nanobots instead of me? I mean he's medically savvy." Marks said playing with one his jammers.

"Mark, stop playing with that. You're supposed to be helping me with the nanobots and I don't need someone who's medically savvy. I need a tech nerd and that's you. Do I need to give you third dosage of nanobots to make you stop complaining?"

"No. No I don't. If you want a nerd's advice, your creation needs some work. I think I have some ideas." Mark said rubbing his arms where Lera had given him a rather large dosage of nanobots.

Lera walked over to Mark and his jammer. Mark's jammer was arguably one of the most vital pieces of equipment on orange team and he was always finding ways to make it better.

"So how does this work exactly?" Lera asked examining the jammer.

"My signal disputer emits its own radio waves at the same frequency as your gadgets scrambling their signals."

"So, it's just a simple radio wave on a specific frequency?" Lera said pulling out her phone.

"I wouldn't say simple; the process is a lot more complicated, but yes that's the gist of it."

Mark pulled the handles down on his jammer. His gadget murmured to life sending out its radio signals.

"Check your phone. It should be jammed." Mark said.

Lera pulled out her phone. She had no reception.

"That's so cool. So, is your phone effected by it?" Lera said and rubbed her head with the heel of her hand.

"Nope. My phone and my teammates phones and gadgets are all set to special frequencies, so they don't get jammed."

"Interesting."

"Hey, do you hear that?" Mark asked rubbing his ear.

"Yeah I hear that too. Sounds like a dog whistle or something. I need to sit down. My head hur…" Lera paused as she felt blood dripping out of her ears.

"Lera…" Mark said seeing the blood.

Lera felt her legs give out and she crumpled to the ground.

She heard Mark hit the ground right after her.

Her vison suddenly went black.


	21. Act II Chapter 21

**Rainbow Six: Undercover**

 **Act II**

 **Chapter 21**

 **A Tempest Brews and Hope Returns**

"Mike my family is at stake I have to save them!" Ela yelled into the phone.

"Ela you need to calm down and think about this. Its clearly a trap. Vanguard is trying to use your family to lure you in. Wait for us to catch up to you and we'll take him down together." Mike said being patient with her.

"I won't stand for this."

"Yes, you will. Do not pursue Vanguard until we can make our way back. That's an or…."

Ela hung up the phone before Mike could complete his sentence and handed it back to Six.

"Before you say anything, you will follow Mike's directions. I understand how dire the situation is for you, but we need to plan before we go in guns blazing. Are we clear?" Six said pointing at Ela.

"But…"

"No buts. We work as a team. If you want any hope of saving your family, you're going to need all of us by your side. It'll be suicide if you go by yourself."

"I can handle myself…"

"End of discussion Ela. No more arguing."

"Yes ma'am." Ela scowled.

Six's phone began to ring again.

"Hello?"

"Director Six! I'm returning your call. It's been a while since we've last spoke."

"Specialist Chavez! Its so great to hear your voice again."

Ding Chavez used to be a specialist in Rainbow Six taking on many dangerous missions when John Clark had founded Rainbow and was the first Director Six. Now he's been using his political science degree to establish a career in politics with Interpol.

"I see you're in a bit of a predicament with the UN?"

"Yes. It's been a rough month for us. I need your help Ding. The UN has Rainbow on its knees over false charges and I need to clear our name before we're shut down permanently."

There was a moment of silence between the two.

"Alright. I'll help you. But you owe me big time when this is all over. Make your way to Paris. I can meet you there and we'll figure how to save Rainbow."

"Thank you this really means a lot."

"You can thank me after this is all over."

Six hung up her phone.

"Marius."

"Yes Six?"

"New destination, Paris. My contact came through. Looks like we have a chance of proving our innocence."

"Yes, ma'am." Marius said as he guided the vehicle along the Russian country side.

Ela stared out the car window watching trees whip past them. She was worried about her family. The more time she spent in the car driving the crazier Ela began to feel.

Eventually the squad stopped at a truck stop.

The operators left the SUV to take a break from sitting. Ela made her way toward a pack of busses searching for a more direct way to Poland. She could care less about Paris and Rainbow Six. All that mattered was her niece's safety and Vanguard getting a well-deserved bullet in his skull. She looked at the destination of the busses and found one going from Moscow to Minsk, Belarus.

It was good enough for her.

She slipped onto the bus without anyone noticing and took a seat. She saw her team from her window walking back to the SUV. She felt bad leaving them behind, but she had more important matters to handle and she didn't want them slowing her down.

"Where do you think you're going?" A voice said from behind her.

She turned to see Dominic taking a seat next to her to box her in.

"Dominic?"

"Is this the tour bus to Paris?" Dominic asked sarcastically.

"Maybe. Maybe not."

"Elzabieta, don't fuck with me."

Ela discreetly pulled out her pistol and pushed the barrel into Dominic's torso.

"You shouldn't have tried to stop me." Ela said to him coldly.

"This is rather unprofessional of you Ela." Dominic joked.

"I have to save my family Dominic. I don't have time to sit and wait for blue team."

"You can't go alone Ela. Vanguard will do some serious damage to you if you go without us."

"It's the risk I'm willing to take."

The doors on the bus closed and the bus began to move.

Ela pulled back the hammer on her pistol.

"Think carefully about your next move Dominic."

Dominic stared into her bright green eyes.

"I'm not the only one who should be thinking." Dominic said to her sternly.

The two operators sat on the bus in their silent personal standoff. They stared angrily at each other as the bus moved back onto the highway. Dominic glanced out the window behind Ela.

"Oops. Looks like its too late for me to get off the bus now. Guess you're stuck with me." Dominic said with a devilish smile.

Ela rolled her eyes and concealed her pistol back in its holster. She stared out the bus window. Dominic closed his eyes and eased back in the bus seat getting comfortable.

"Was this all part of your plan?" Ela asked.

"Kind of. I knew if I couldn't get you off this bus then I could at least come and help you, so you wouldn't be alone. I just didn't account for you pulling a weapon on me."

Ela chuckled and leaned back in the bus seat closing her eyes.

Vanguard thought he had the upper hand taking Ela's niece.

Little did he know he was wrong.

All he had done was awaken the Bosak Tempest that Ela once was and filled her with a terrible resolve.

…

Lera's eyes fluttered open. Her head pounded, and the side of her head felt sticky from laying in a small blood pool. The room spun around her. She looked over to Mark, who was struggling to stand. She stood up to her hands and knees using the counter next to her to lean on but couldn't stand.

"Lera… what's happening to me?" Mark mumbled.

Lera couldn't speak. It was as if she had forgotten how to talk.

Her hand slipped off the counter and she fell on her face.

She heard footsteps rush over to her.

"Finka? Finka? Are you okay?" The person asked. It sounded like a guard. Lera didn't answer him.

" _Something feels so right about this for some reason."_ Lera thought to herself.

The guard helped Lera to her feet. She leaned against the counter and stared at Mark's jammer. It continued to hum away as it sent out its frequency.

"Lera, talk to me. Tell me what's wrong." The guard commanded.

" _No urge to comply? My body should be forcing an answer but its not. Could it be?"_

Lera balled up her fists.

" _I have control?"  
_ She reared her fists back.

" _I HAVE CONTROL!"_

Lera punched the guard in the stomach as hard as she could sending him to the floor. She lifted her boot and curb stomped his face. His face caved into his head with a loud crunch like she was squishing a bug.

"Mark?"

"Help me up please." He said reaching out his arm.

Lera helped him up.

"Mark, your jammer stopped the nanobots from working."

Mark laughed.

"Would you look at that. Another counter to the blue team." He said with a smile.

"Don't let it get to your head. We need to get out of here before more guards get here."

"You're right, lets go."

Mark went to exit the room and fell to his knees clutching his head grimacing.

"Lera… I think I'm losing control" He muttered.  
"Mark come back to me." Lera commanded reaching out her hand.

Mark crawled back to her and took her hand. She dragged him back toward the jammer.  
"We have to stay in the radius of the jammer to stay in this state."

"So, what do you purpose we do?"

"You carry the jammer. I'll cover you. Let's get to the prison and help our friends." Lera said stealing the guard's side arm.

"Understood." Mark said picking up his jammer.

The two operators stealthily moved through Hereford base past guards. The security got beefier as the operators got closer to the prison. Eventually they made it inside undetected. They moved down the basement of the building where the jail cells were. As they moved down the stairs they could hear men crying out in pain.

Finka and Mark stacked up on the door.

"You ready?"  
"Do it."

Finka slowly opened the door. The sight before her shocked her.

Three guards and a man in a white lab coat stood in front of Timur and Shurat. The two Russians were bloodied from blunt force trauma. The other operators cowered in their cells unable to help their comrades.

Standing over Timur and Shurat was Taina and she looked very angry.

"This is what happens when you disobey our orders. I told you not to help your friend and this is what happens." The man in the white coat said as he watched Taina beat down the two operators that saved her life earlier.

Lera raised her pistol and walked into the middle of the jail with Mark behind her carrying the jammer. As she moved forward she watched Elias clutch his head and fall to his knees.

"Elias? What's wrong?" Monika said squatting down to help him.

Lera noticed Ryad, Grace, and Olivier drop to their knees grimacing in pain.

"Freeze." Lera said to the guards.

The guards drew their weapons and took aim at Mark and Lera.

"Finka. Stand down." The man in the white lab coat commanded thinking she was still under their control.

"Not a chance." Lera said with a wicked grin.

The man in the lab coat noticed the jammer in Mark's hand and put two and two together. He smiled at the operators' wit.

"Guards…"

"No." Taina said cutting off the man in the white lab coat. She smiled psychotically at Lera. "She's mine now."

"What did you do to her?" Lera asked stepping back slowly.

"We quadrupled her dosage of domestication nanobots and performance enhancing nanobots. We wanted to see the maximum amount of nanobots an operator could handle at once in the field." The man in the white lab coat explained.

Lera's face turned pale as she stared at Taina. Lera could see Taina's hands trembling and her rapid breathing. Her pupils were pin point. Her tan skin was slightly pale.

Taina looked completely out of her mind.

 _Poor girl. She's high out of her mind on nanobots with absolutely no control of her body. Her already broken mental state plus a quadruple dosage of nanobots explains why she's super aggressive._ Lera thought to herself.

"Mark, protect the jammer. I'll take care of Cav. If we lose your jammer, then the nanobots in our heads will regain control." Lera said tossing her pistol out of the room. She didn't want to end up shooting her teammate.

"Copy that." Mute said stepping away from Lera and Cav.

Lera and Mark were not dressed for a fight only wearing their white lab coats and scrubs.

Caveira sprinted toward Lera with lightning speed and punched through Lera's defense hitting her in the mouth. Lera fell backward holding her face. Cav then put her eyes on Mark who was standing in the open with a jammer in his hands completely defenseless.

"Uh oh." Mark said as he began to back pedal away from her.

Caveira charged at Mark but when she came into range of him she screamed and held her head halting her attack. She quickly retreated away from Mark.

"Lera, the jammer is disrupting Caveira's nanobots!"

Lera struggled to her feet and spat a glob of blood out of her mouth. She wiped the blood off her mouth and stared at her opponent who had an evil smile on her face. Caveira charged at Lera again and brought on a wave of punches. Her strikes were way too fast for Lera to block. Lera took countless numbers of punches to the face and stomach. Caveira ended her combination of punches with a round house kick to side of Lera's head which knocked her to the ground again. Lera could see stars dancing around her.

Timur and Shurat looked up at the three guards who were too busy watching the fight. The two Russians looked at each other and nodded as if they could read each other's thoughts.

"Lera! Defense! Keep your hands up!" Mark said thinking his coaching was helping her.

"How's about you fight her and I hold the jammer." Lera grimaced as she struggled to her hands and knees.

"Nah you look like you have things under control."

Lera was met by Caveira's strong right knee to her nose knocking her onto her back. She felt blood drip out of her nose and also down the back of her throat.

Shurat and Timur let out a rebel war cry and charged the three-armed guards who weren't paying attention to them. Timur reached for one guard's side arm and fired at the guard adjacent to him downing him. Shurat knocked out the third guard in one punch. Timur aimed the last guard's own pistol at his temple and fired killing him instantly. Timur then aimed the pistol at the man in the white lab coat's knee cap as he was trying to run away and shot him. He screamed in pain fell.

"You're not going anywhere." Timur said to him.

Shurat charged to Lera's rescue. He put Caveira into a chock hold but was met by a swift back kick to the testicles.

"Jesus Christ Caveira…" The big Russian squeaked holding his private area and fell over.

Lera jumped to her feet and was immediately met by Caveira's fist to her face knocking her bac down again.

Lera laid on the ground trying to catch her breath while Caveira stood over top her looking as if she were enjoying the brawl and the strength she was feeling.

"We can't beat her… she's too strong… and fast." Lera said between breaths.

"I have an idea." Mark said looking at Caveira. Caveira met his gaze.

Mark charged Caveira with the jammer. Caveira began to back pedal away from Mark. She turned to Timur who was looking at the man in the white lab coat. Timur turned to see Caveira running straight at him.

"No no no no no damn it Mark what are you doing?!" Timur said back pedaling with his pistol in hand. Before Caveira could land a blow Timur took aim at a random jail cell and with superior precision shot the lock off the cell door. Timur was then met by a punch to the gut and a knee to face sending him to the ground.

His pistol skittered across the floor.

Caveira saw the pistol and went to reach for it but something gripped her shoulder and threw her backward. She fell to the floor but summersaulted to recover. Elias and Monika stood between Caveira and the firearms on the ground. Soon, Lera, Timur, Shurat, Elias, Monika and Mute with his jammer made a circle around Caveira.

Caveira giggled excitedly to herself as she looked at the operators that surrounded her.

"Now this is going to be fun." She muttered getting into a fighting stance.

The operators exchanged nervous glances with each other.

They all attacked Caveira at the same time and Caveira made fools out of all of them.

Caveira combat rolled out of the way and kicked Elias in the back of the knee sending him down to one knee right as Lera was mid swing on a punch which instead of hitting Caveira hit Elias in the side of the head. Monika went to round house kick Caveira but ended hitting Shurat. Timur ended up running into Mark knocking him down. Luckily the jammer didn't break.

Caveira then began to finish off her attackers one by one while they were all stunned. She kicked Elias in the face while he was on the ground, pulled Lera's lab coat over her head so she couldn't see and elbowed her in the face knocking her to the ground, turned and kicked Monika in the face knocking her down, and judo throwed Timur to the ground, and punched Shurat in the face who was also already on the ground.

Caveira turned to Mark who had made it back to his feet. He stood staring at Caveira in total fear.

Caveira stared back at him. Her tan face glistened with sweat. She breathed heavily trying to catch her breath. Her blackish brown braided hair was a mess.

Mute charged at Caveira with the jammer again. Caveira began to back pedal away from him but Elias, who was still on the ground, stuck his foot out and tripped her. She fell to the ground and began to scooch away from Mark. Shurat dove on top her and pinned her down so she couldn't move. Mute placed the jammer next to Caveira who was now screaming in pain and desperately trying to escape Shurat's grip.

"Fight it Taina! This isn't you! Come back to reality! We're your friends not your enemies!" Shurat urged Taina as she shrieked in pain. He noticed blood began to drip out of her ears. Beads of sweat rolled off of her face along with tears as she continued to resist.

Eventually Taina calmed down. Her pupils which had been pin point began to dilate back to normal. Her hands stopped trembling. Her breathing rate slowed to normal speed.

"Taina? Are you alright?" Timur asked.

Taina stared at him not saying a work. Shurat moved off of her. Taina tried to stand but lost her balance and fell over. Lera caught her in her arms before she could fall.

"Take it slow." Lera said helping her up.

Taina steadied herself using jail cells bars to balance herself. She turned and looked at her teammates who had just saved her.

"You're not going to kill us now, right?" Elias asked part joking part being serious.

Taina nodded sheepishly and looked down at her feet.

"Alrighty then. Now, we have a base to take back."


	22. Act II Chapter 22

**Rainbow Six: Undercover**

 **Act II**

 **Chapter 22**

 **All Things Must Come to an End**

"Six, what do you mean Ela and Dominic disappeared?" Mike asked.

"They're gone. Deserted us when we stopped. I had a feeling we shouldn't have told Ela about Vanguard."

"It's typical Ela behavior Six. I'm actually surprised Dominic joined her. My squad is about to land in Poland, so we should be able to catch up with her."

"We'll try and drive to Poland as fast as we can but there's no way we'll make it in time."

"Do not go to Poland. Take orange team and get to Paris as fast as you can. Meeting Chavez is the priority. Leave Vanguard to us. We have a score to settle with him."

"Copy that Mike. Good hunting."

"Safe travels to you. We'll be in contact."

…

Ela and Bandit trudged through the foot of snow-covered landscape of rural Poland. Ela wrapped Meghan's shemagh around her head and neck to protect her from the cold wind and snow whipping past their faces.

"Zo's house should be at the top of this hill." Ela said crouching behind some trees.

"Sneakers were definitely not the best of choice of foot wear for the snow." Dominic muffled between breaths through his balaclava.

"Spare me Dominic. You think you got it bad? These tight pants have no thermal barrier. I can't feel the lower half of my body and these fingerless gloves aren't helping either." Ela joked as she rubbed her hands together trying to warm them.

Dominic chuckled.

Ela smile faded suddenly.

"Hey, do you hear that?" She said raising her Scorpion.

Dominic crouched next to Ela raising his MP7.

"What do you hear?"

"Someone's behind us."

The two operators waited patiently in the forest for a target to appear.

"Blue on blue, don't shoot." A voice called out to them.

Dominic and Ela looked at each other confused and lowered their weapons.

The person came out from behind the tree. Ela's eyes turned wide.

"No… it can't be…." Ela said dropping her Scorpion in the snow and ran toward the figure with arms wide open.

Meghan caught Ela in her arms and held her tight.

Dominic approached Meghan and Ela absolutely stunned.

"Meghan? Is that you? I'm so confused right now. What's going on?"

Ela and Meghan separated and turned their attention to Dominic who looked absolutely dumbfounded.

"Hey Dom." Meghan said with a glowing smiling.

Dominic dropped his MP7 in the snow. He walked over to Meghan with arms wide open and they embrace holding each other tight.

"I'm so sorry for what happened…" Dominic muttered in her shoulder.

"You don't have to apologize. It was never your fault." Meghan said cutting him off.

The operators separated. They all stood happy to see each other. The operators collected their weapons and crouched behind a fallen tree.

Meghan peaked over the tree toward the house at the top of the hill.

"So, is that where he's hiding?" Meghan asked.

"Yes, and he has my niece too." Ela said to her.

"We'll get her back Ela. Don't worry." Dominic said reassuring her.

The operators moved through the forest toward the house for another 5 minutes. Snow fell softly through the forest canopy turning the trees a mixed color of white and brown. The wind howled between the trees whipping up the dusty snow. The air smelt of fresh pine. A woodpecker could be heard pecking at a tree in the distance. A lone crow called to its companions from above. The snow crunched beneath their shoes as they silently navigated through the woods.

Breaking the horizon in front of them stood a modest looking colonial home. It looked dark inside the house. There were no cars in the drive way. Everything appeared normal.

Ela stared at her sister's house from her position behind the tree line. All she could hear were the sounds of mother nature around her and her chattering teeth. The house appeared to be vacant. Ela rubbed her hands together trying to keep them warm.

"I don't like this." Ela whispered.

"Yeah same here." Bandit whispered back.

"I still think we should check it out. Maybe they're hiding."

"Okay but do it quietly."

Ela, Meghan, and Dominic lifted their weapons as they approached the side of the house. They met no contact as they walked around the front yard.

They walked up the front porch of the house. Dominic stacked up on the door. Ela and Meghan stood in front of it hesitant to go inside.

"You good?" Dominic whispered.

"Yeah." Ela said staring at the front door.

There was a moment of silence between the operators.

"Dominic."

"What's up?"

"Go back down the hill. Find us transportation for extraction. Meghan and I need to do this part alone."

"Wait what?! No. I'm going with you." Dominic protested.

"This is our fight Dominic." Ela said trying to reason with him.

"This is every bit of my fight as it yours."

"Vanguard made this fight personal between the two of us. Let me have this moment. Please."

Dominic sat in silence.

Meghan gently put a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm not losing you again." Bandit said to Meghan.

Meghan smiled.

"You worry too much Dominic."

Dominic took a step back from the door. Those words sounded familiar to him. It reminded him of Taina.

"Okay." He said and walked off the porch. He walked down middle of the road back the way they had come.

Once Dominic was out of sight Ela unclipped her magazine from her Scorpion ensuring it was full. She checked her mags on her two side arms and primed her grenades in case she needed to let them fly.

Ela looked at her friend.

"You ready?"

"Let's do this."

Ela put her hand on the cold brass door knob and twisted it.

It was unlocked.

She pushed the door open. It creaked as she opened it. Ela casually stepped inside of the house with Meghan following behind her. Cold wind rushed through the open the door. She closed the door behind her and stood still listening to her surroundings. Ela still remembered the layout of the house from the few times she's visited.

It was cold and dark inside of the house. The foyer she stood in was wide open. There was a den area to her right. Stairs leading to the second floor on her left with the hallway to the second floor overlooking the foyer she stood in. There was a hallway in front of her leading to the kitchen. The walls were covered in family photos of Zo, Zo's husband, Zo's daughter and Ela which surprised her.

"I'll check the kitchen. You check upstairs." Meghan said as she walked down the hallway.

Ela walked toward the stairs. The old wooden floorboards creaked and groaned beneath her. She made her way up the stairs slowly. At the end of the stairs if she went left she'd go to Zofia's room. If she went right she'd go to her niece's room.

She went right.

She put her hand on the door knob to her niece's room and opened the door.

She stepped inside to see Vanguard sitting in the chair Zo used to tell her daughter bed time stories holding Ela's niece by her short brown hair and pointing his pistol to side of her head. Her niece's face was cherry red and her eyes full of tears. Zofia's husband laid on the floor before him bloodied and bruced with duct tape over his face tied up.

"Ela. You found me." Vanguard said with a smile.

Ela looked at her niece. She looked okay. Just really scared.

"Not just me. I have an old friend who wants to talk to you." Ela said motioning to the door.

Meghan stepped in the room staring angrily at Vanguard.

Vanguard's face turned as white as the snow outside.

"Valkyrie? This is impossible…" He stuttered.

"Hello Vanguard." Meghan said with an evil grin.

Vanguard was speechless.

"What's the matter? You look like somebody just walked over your grave."

"I killed you. This doesn't make any sense. Are you here to haunt me?" He said nervously glancing at the two girls before him.

"I suggest you put the girl down. This is just between the three of us." Meghan demanded.

"You're gonna be okay sweetie. Starsza siostra is here." Ela said to her niece trying to comfort her.

Vanguard laughed to himself. Meghan and Ela exchanged confused looks with each other.

"We'll see about that. Get em' boys." Vanguard commanded.

Meghan noticed movement from one of the bedroom windows.

"ELA!" Meghan yelled and yanked her out of the room. A White Mask fired through window at the two fleeing operators tearing up Ela's niece's walls. Ela's niece screamed as the sound of machineguns firing began to escalate turning the entire house into a warzone.

The operators heard glass shattering as White Masks entered the house through the windows. Meghan and Ela ran down the hallway dodging stray bullets and dove into the Zofia's bedroom. They closed the door behind them. Ela and Meghan took cover behind a dresser.

"They must've been on the roof waiting for us!" Ela said.

"You got a plan?"

Ela unclipped a Grzmot mine from her thigh holster and threw it toward a big window behind them in the master bedroom. It exploded, and they watched a White Mask fall off the roof to his death.

"We shoot our way out." Ela said.

Ela leaned out the master bed room door frame to the hallway and unloaded her Scorpion at the advancing terrorist knocking two down.

"SWAPPING MAGS!" She yelled as she reloaded.

They heard glass break from the bathroom off to their left. Ela peaked into the bathroom and fired a burst with her Scorpion into through the window hitting a White Mask center mass. His body hung limp from the ropes.

An explosion from below sent Ela and Meghan flying backward.

Ela looked around disoriented. The room was beginning to get hazy from the gun fire and explosions obstructing their vision.

"On your feet Ela! They're blowing out the floorboards from below!" Meghan yelled helping her up.

There was another explosion nearby that sent pieces of the floor boards flying upward showering the operators in splinters.

Ela looked between the floorboard of one of holes and saw three white masks getting ready to throw another set of explosives. She fired through the floorboards killing one. The White Masks watched their teammate crumple to the ground and ran to a new position.

"Ela, pushing the hallway."

Ela reposition back to the doorway of the bedroom and emptied her magazine on three terrorists pushing their position.  
"Changing mags!" She said as she reloaded. The barrel on her Scorpion was starting glow red from the shooting.

After what seemed like hours of gunning down one White Mask after another which tore Zofia's house to ribbons, the fighting finally seized as bodies of dead White Masks littered the yard and the inside of the house. Only one Op For was left standing.

"Give it up Vanguard! I know you're still hiding in there!" Valkyrie called from across the house.

They heard footsteps followed by a little girl's scream.

"HE'S GETTING AWAY!" Ela yelled running from the safety of the master bedroom.

Vanguard ran frantically down the stairs with Ela's niece. Ela chased him down the stairs into the living room and out the front door to the snowy landscape.

In a last ditch he turned around to fire his pistol at Ela, but Ela had already caught up to him and swung her SMG for his head. The butt of her gun hit Vanguard in the side of the temple sending him to the frozen Earth below him. His pistol fell out of his hand and the fall pushed Ela's niece away from him.  
Vanguard tried to crawl away but felt Ela's boot on his boot.

Ela stood over him pointing her side arm at his head.

Vanguard felt blood trickle down the side of his head. Ela stood over him staring at him silently. All he could hear was the sounds of their breathing and the wind blowing through the forest. The light snow fall peppered his face.

He heard footsteps crunching through the snow toward him.

Meghan came into his view. The two operators he had worked with in Iraq, only to betray them in the end. He knew this day would come. The day when his demons would finally catch up to him.

Meghan stood next to Ela and put a hand on her shoulder.

"You did it Ela. You got him." She said smiling.

Ela closed her eyes and let out a sigh of relief.

All of the running. All of the killing and the violence. The hardships their team had faced. It was finally about to end.

Ela opened her eyes staring at her wounded arch enemy before her ripe for the taking.

"I've waited months for this moment." Ela said.

"Just do it already. But understand that killing me won't change anything." Vanguard sneered.

To Vanguard's surprise, Ela holstered her pistol.

He stupidly thought she was going to let him live when he watched her pull out Meghan's Desert Eagle.

She released the magazine and made sure there was still ammo even though she hadn't used it. She was saving it for this moment.

Ela looked at Meghan.

Meghan's blonde hair wavered in the wind as she stared down at the man who betrayed her with eyes full of anger. She was ready to watch Vanguard die.

Ela turned to her niece who stood watching her aunt about to take someone's life.

"Please look away sweetheart." Ela said to her.

Her niece slowly turned around and covered her ears.

Ela turned back to Vanguard and met his eyes one last time. He looked full of absolute fear and surprise. As if he truly thought he could get away with what he did to them.

Vanguard watched Ela raise the Desert Eagle aiming for his forehead. Meghan's image began to merge with Ela's body as Meghan mimicked Ela's movement, despite nothing being in her hand.

Ela pulled back the hammer on the pistol and squeezed the trigger.

The pistol recoiled evenly in Ela's hand. The 50 caliber round impacted Vanguard's forehead spraying blood onto Ela. Vanguard eyes rolled to the back of his head as he laid with a crater in his forehead. Ela fired again.

And again.

And again.

Meghan's image separated from Ela's body.

"Ela…" Meghan put a hand on her arm.

Ela stopped firing into Vanguard's corpse.

A tear trickled down Ela's face. She turned to Meghan embarrassed that she was crying again.

Meghan looked different. The outline of her figure now sparkled gold. Her appearance looked renewed. She was no longer looked tired and hurt. She looked young, beautiful, and rejuvenated.

Meghan placed her hands on Ela's shoulders. She wiped a tear from Ela's cheek.

"Hey, look at me."

Ela lifted her head and looked at her friend's face. Her image was beginning to blow away with the wind and snow.

"Before I go, I just wanted to say thank you. Thank you for everything you've sacrificed for me now and when I was still alive. I know your life has been rough but I'm so proud of you Ela. You've achieved so much despite everything you've been through. And just because I'm not physically with you doesn't mean I don't have your back. You carry me with you now. I may be dead, but my memory lives within you. Do me a favor and keep it alive. It's one of the few things I still have left in this world."

Ela sniffled and wiped more tears from her eyes.

"I promise. You'll never be forgotten. Goodbye Meghan."

And with those final words Meghan's figure blew away with the snow and wind. Ela stood alone in the front yard of Zofia's house with her niece who was staring at her confused.

Ela sank to her knees still in tears. Her niece approached her wrapping her arms around her.

"Siostra? Who were you talking to? There was no one here but you and I?"

Ela smiled at her niece blinking back her tears.

"Just a friend." Ela said embracing her niece.

They heard a car rumble up the dirt road.

Ela watched Dominic pull up in an SUV. He parked in front of the house and jogged over to Ela.

"Ela! You did it! You got him!" He said standing over Vanguard's dead body.

"Yeah… we got him."

Dominic squatted down to Ela's niece and gently shook her hand.

"I'm Dominic. I'm your aunt's coworker."

"And pain in the ass." Ela added.

Dominic gave her a dirty look.

"Dominic, help me get her father. He's upstairs. He looked hurt."

"Okay. Let's get her in the car first so she doesn't freeze to death."

Ela picked up her niece and loaded her in the car.

"I'll be right back kiddo." She said ruffling her hair.

Dominic and Ela walked upstairs and retrieved Zofia's husband. He wasn't hurt bad. Just a few bumps and bruises. They carried him to the car and loaded him in.

"Blue team is 2 minutes out and apparently they brought new reinforcements with them." Dominic said getting ready jump in the driver seat.

Ela felt light on her feet. Like heavy weight had finally been lifted off of her shoulders. Things were finally starting to look up for them. She was eager to regroup with her teammates and plan their next move.

Ela's niece pointed out the window of the car with a big grin.

"Mommy's here! Mommy's here!" She yelled excitedly.

"Wait what?" Ela and Dominic exchanged confused looks and turned around quickly to see two figures behind them.

There was a gunshot that followed.

Ela felt a sharp burning pain in her chest. All of the air left her body as she crumpled to the ground. A pool of blood began to envelop her against the white snow beneath her. She couldn't breathe. She could feel herself choking on her own bodily fluids.

"NOOOOO!" She heard Dominic scream and pull out his MP7. A round landed in his forehead before he could fire off any rounds. He fell into the snow and laid motionless.

Ela turned her head and stared at the grey sky above her. She could hear her niece screaming from the inside of the car.

Ela's older sister came into view. She stood over Ela blocking her view of the sky. She had a crazed look on her face as if she was a different person. A man in a military uniform came into view.

He squatted next to her.

"You fool. I needed Vanguard alive for information and you killed him. Now this investigation is fucked thanks to you."

He looked up at the SUV containing her screaming niece.

"Zo, take care of the girl would you please."

Zofia turned her attention to the SUV and walked over to it leaving Ela's field of vision.

Ela stared at the man. She could feel blood dripping out her mouth and nose. She smelt pennies.

"I guess this is the end of your sister rivalry. From the looks of it, Zo was truly the better sister in the end." The man said standing up and leaving Ela's field of view.

Another car engine roared to the front of house. There was shouting followed by more screaming.

Ela couldn't see anything, but the commotion sounded bad.

A black woman with a large full body shield came into view chasing a back pedaling Zofia. The shield reminded Ela of Gille's shield. An electrical arch came from the shield shocking Zo sending her to her knees screaming in pain. The woman approached Zo and pistol whipped her in the head knocking her out.

A man, who appeared to be wearing Afghan like clothing, was handcuffing the man who had mocked her earlier. The man being handcuffed screamed obscenities at them. When Zo and the uniformed man were subdued, the woman with the shield rushed over to Ela squatting over her. She pressed her hands on Ela's wound which made her scream in pain. The woman with the shield began waving frantically for help. The man in the afghan clothing crouched across from the shield woman staring at her.

Ela's vision began to fade away to whiteness. She felt a sensation as if she were falling.

Before she descended into total whiteness she watched Mike Baker shove the afghan dressed man out of the way screaming her name.

Mike's voice began to morph into a female's voice.

It sounded like Meghan's voice calling her name.

And she sounded extremely scared.

 **Author's note:**

Sorry this chapter took so long to publish. School has been a nightmare so far so its been hard for me to find time to write. Next chapter should be the last chapter for this act or the entire story. I'm not sure yet what I want to do. See you in the next chapter! A lot of people have sent me questions about where I get my ideas from for the story. I'm going to answer all of them in the final chapter.


	23. Act II Chapter 23

**Rainbow Six: Undercover**

 **Act II**

 **Chapter 23**

" **War is Kind"**

– **Stephan Crane**

Taina walked through the down pour of rain to a small dilapidated brick building. It was a typical spring day in Hereford Base, England… raining. She pushed the heavy wooden doors of the brick building and walked inside. The brick building was the base's chapel located on the outskirts of the base. The inside of the chapel smelt dusty an old. The two rows of pews stretching toward a small alter looked worn down. Parts of the carpet were stained and torn up. The inside was dim due to poor lighting. Above the alter looking down on the pews was the crucifix of Jesus Christ, which was the only thing in the chapel that looked new and up kept. While some of the soldiers and workers were religious, they could never find the time for church due to their busy schedules, so the church never saw many visitors. In charge of the church was French GIGN/CBRN operator Olivier Lament. Olivier was a devote Catholic who had taken up the task of reviving the on base chapel.

Taina could see Olivier at the alter with cleaning supplies scrubbing the alter. He perked up from his work surprised to see a visitor.

"Taina?"  
"Hey."

Olivier put down his cleaning supplies and approached her. Taina stood in the aisle between the church pews looking as if she were lost.

"Can I help you something?" Olivier asked surprised to see of all people.

Taina remained quiet.

"Here, take a seat." Olivier said motioning to one of the pews.

Taina took a seat in one of the pews in the center of the chapel. Olivier looked at the crucifix, gave the sign of the cross, and then took a seat next to Taina.

Taina stared at her feet. She felt as if she didn't belong. As if the church itself was rejecting her.

"Are you okay? You haven't been the same since you were held by the UN."

She looked up at Olivier. He was right. Ever since her torturous meeting with Overlord she's felt like a completely new person.

She's been her normal reclusive self, but she's been rejecting her handler's help. She's felt a heaviness in her chest that won't go away. She's taken numerous psychiatric and physical tests to find what was wrong with her. The psychologists mentioned something of a "breakthrough," but she didn't understand what the doctors meant, and they refused to explain it to her. She remembered Overlord mentioning something about being able to "fix" her through the electrical shocks he gave her, but she could barely remember. She was trying to forget those dark times then remember them.

Now its been months since Rainbow was proven innocent to the UN thanks to the involvement of Ding Chavez and the Grim Sky Urban Tactical Response team. But the heaviness in her chest still hasn't gone away.

"Olivier. I'm not okay and I don't know what to do." She mumbled.

Olivier nodded his head.

"Have you tried talking about it?"

"With psychologists. But not with anyone else."

Olivier shook his head in disappointment. He always disagreed with Rainbow's way of treating some of the operators like science experiments. Taina being one of them.

"Then talk to me then. What you say stays between you, me, and God."

"Olivier, you probably won't believe me when I say this."

"Try me."

"When Overlord hurt me, I saw Meghan."

"Okay and?"

Taina looked at him surprised at the fact that what she said hadn't surprised him.

"You're not surprised or weirded out by that?"

"No. Not at all. God works in mysterious ways and so do our loved ones who've past."

Taina looked up at the crucifix.

"What do you mean by that?"

"God and our loved ones can appear to us anytime they choose. People claim every day that they thought they saw God or a loved one. While to some it might be crazy, I believe them. Anyone can see God or a past loved one. Meghan appeared before you because she wanted you to see her. What did you experience?"

Taina tried to replay the image in her head.

"Everything around me was white. I was in so much before pain and all I wanted was to die. But Meghan held me tight and told me everything was going to be okay. When she touched me all of my pain subsided. I felt… okay."

Olivier smiled at Taina.

"Looks like Meghan was watching over you. Like a guardian angel. That's not anything out of the ordinary. Despite past loved ones being dead and gone, they are always with us and they can appear before us at any time whether your relationship with them was good or bad."

"Can the other operators see her?"

"I suppose. But only if Meghan wants to be seen."

Taina thought about Dominic. His smile. His blonde hair and brown eyes. His amazing sense of humor. His personality. His character. How he always put others before himself.

Taina looked down at her feet again. She felt warm liquid in her eyes. A tear droplet fell down her cheek onto the top of her shoe.

Olivier now looked at her surprised. He'd never seen her like this before. He thought sociopaths were "emotionless."

"Taina…"

"I miss them Olivier. I miss them so much."

Taina broke down into tears and buried her face in her hands. She never felt this feeling before. The other operators called it grief. She's never felt this way in her entire life. She assumed what she was feeling was grief and she didn't like it. The psychologists had told her when she joined Rainbow that she displayed sociopathic patterns and was unable of feeling raw emotion. She guessed this was the breakthrough they were talking about.

Olivier placed a hand on her shoulder trying to comfort her.

"I miss them too Taina. I miss them too." He whispered.

Olivier tried his best to comfort the damaged woman.

Taina felt embarrassed at the mess she was. She hated the feeling of emotions. She partly wished she was her old emotionless self again. She kept her face hidden as she cried and didn't realize someone else had entered the church.

She heard footsteps on the old carpet walking toward her. Olivier stood up and walked out of the pew leaving her alone. The new person took a seat next to her in the pew.

She felt an arm wrap around her and someone stroke her hair. She rested her head on the person's shoulder and removed her hands from her face.

She recognized the black sneakers, ripped jeans, and black and yellow striped jacket.

"Seeing you in a church is like seeing a unicorn. But seeing you cry? The planets must all be aligned or something." Dominic said smiling at her.

Taina couldn't help but laugh at his joke. She wiped the tears from her puffy eyes.

"Hey, listen to me." Bandit said picking up her chin with his finger. "I'm sorry for what's happened. I haven't been able to live with myself. It hurts me so much."

More tears ran down Taina's face.

"It's not your fault. It's not your fault…." She choked on sentence repeating it like a broken record.

"No, it is my fault. And I'm truly sorry Taina. Just known that I have your back forever now. I'm not going anywhere. I'll never leave you. But you have to carry on without me." He said cutting her off.

Taina wrapped her arms around Dominic. He felt warm and comforting but she could feel him fading away.

"Please don't go. Don't leave me." She begged to him.

"You have to continue on Taina. Do it for me."

"I don't know if I can."

"Yes, you can and I'm right her to help you. All of us are. Keep my memory alive for me."

Dominic wrapped his arms around her holding on to the moment for as long as he could before fading away from the mortal world until Taina sat by herself in the pew alone.

Olivier looked up at the crucifix from the back of the chapel where he stood.

"God really works in mysterious ways." He muttered to himself and did the sign of the cross.

…

Mike sat in the car in front of the house contemplating his thoughts. He twirled a piece of paper around in hands and pulled at his dress blues contemplating everything he's ever done in his life leading to this moment. Being in the SAS, joining Rainbow, fighting against Vanguard, fighting Overlord, retiring from Rainbow, and everything in between. Cars passed by his parked vehicle. Children played in the front yards of the surrounding houses enjoying the beautiful spring day.

Mike took in a breath and exhaled slowly.

" _Be a fucking man Mike. Get a grip."_ His conscience said.

He stepped out of the car and walked up the driveway of an old rancher to the front porch. The grass was clean cut and the garden out front was covered in beautiful flowers. The air felt hot and humid.

He hesitated for a second before ringing the doorbell sorting his thoughts. Once he was ready, he rang the doorbell feeling impending doom, but he held his ground.

An old man answered the door.

"Hi, do I know you?" He asked.

Mike was unable to answer. The words that he had planned to say left his mind. He thought he was ready for this moment, but he truly wasn't.

The old man stared at him confused.

"Sir…" He mustered choking back his tears. "I have been asked to inform you… that your daughter… Meghan…" He cleared throat struggling to say her name.

"Meghan J. Castellano… has been reported… dead… in Ramadi, Iraq on November 26, 2017 at 18:17 hours in a surprise gas attack while fighting terroristic opposing forces. On behalf of the Secretary of Defense…. I extend to you… and your family… my deepest sympathy in your loss."

He handed him the piece of paper. The old man looked down at the piece of paper. He slowly reached for it and opened the folds.

 _Chief Castellano,_

 _Sir, it breaks my heart to inform you that your daughter, Meghan J. Castellano, died gloriously on the field of battle on November 26, 2017 at 18:17 hours in Ramadi, Iraq._

 _I feel how weak and fruitless must be any words of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering to you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic your daughter died to protect._

 _I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of Freedom._

 _Yours,  
Very Sincerely and Respectfully, _

_Director Six_

Meghan's father let the letter slip out of his fingertips. The paper swayed through the air and landed at Mike's feet. Chief Castellano sat down in the door frame of his house speechless.

Mike knelt down placing a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm so sorry Chief Castellano. It was truly an honor to serve alongside her." Mike said softly.

A tear trickled down Chief Castellano's cheek as he stared at the children playing in front of surrounding houses in silence. Remembering when her daughter was about their age playing with her friends in the yard. Remembering when his wife was still alive. His daughter was all he had left.

Now he had nothing.

Mike felt eyes lay upon him from behind. He looked behind him to see Meghan leaning against the door frame. Her face was red, and she had tears in her eyes.

Meghan bowed her head and remained quiet as she watched the two men before her grieve the loss of her life.

…

"50 METERS AHEAD TURN RIGHT!" Zofia heard IQ scream from behind her as they sprinted down the tubular corridor of the double decker passenger jet. Bullets buzzed past them from behind as they ran.

Glaz looked through his thermal scope from outside the plane on a fully extended high reach he was using as a sniper's perch. He saw glimpses of yellow heat signatures flash onto his scope through the airplane's small exterior windows.

"Op For right is on your heels team 2." Glaz's voice said in their comms.

IQ and Zofia stopped and stacked up on a split in the corridor. IQ held her AUG in her right hand and looked down at her electronics scanner on her left wrist. It pinged the location of the electronic device they were looking for. It began to beep faster and faster like metal detector as they got closer to it.

"EAST CORRIDOR TEN METERS GO, GO, GO!" IQ said tapping Zofia's shoulder signaling her to push forward toward the designated room.

Zofia entered a large open area for first class. Bodies of NYPD and terrorists littered the floor. Two large bombs ticked away in the center of the room. Across the room was a doorway leading into another corridor. They could hear footsteps sprinting toward them from the opposite corridor as well as from the corridor they had used to enter the room.

IQs wrist scanner began to beep more rapidly as she approached one of the dead policemen. She rolled the corpse over revealing a bomb defuser.

"YES! GOT IT!" She said picking up the defuser.

Zofia moved toward the corridor on the opposite end of the room ready for the next wave of terrorists to attack. She could hear their voices and footsteps as they got closer to them.

"Glaz, package retrieved. Starting defusal. Cover us." IQ said on her comms.

"Roger that team 2. You're completely surrounded by Op For. I'll try and cover you the best I can."

A group of ten terrorists sprinted town Zofia's corridor coming into her view.

"Holy shit…" She whispered to herself and opened up with her LMG dropping one of them while the over wisely dove for cover and returned fire. One threw an impact grenade at her.

"Woah, woah, woah!" Zofia yelled taking cover from the incoming rounds and grenade. She felt a small wave of heat from the blast.

"DEFUSING!" IQ yelled as she opened up the small computer and began to type.

Zo heard a thunderous boom from outside the plane as Glaz began to open up with his high-powered sniper rifle from his sniper's perch. She couldn't see who he was shooting at, but it sounded like was doing damage to their unknown enemies.

Zo peaked the corridor she was covering earlier and returned fire at the advancing terrorists who were now a lot closer to her then before.

"IQ 3 SLIPPED PAST ME THEY'RE COMING BEHIND YOU!" Glaz screamed in the radio.

IQ stopped typing and turned around to watch a block of nitro sail past her.

It exploded knocking her off the defuser.

Zofia turned around to take out the three terrorists that had slipped past, but they were faster than her and immediately gunned her down. The rounds impacted her stomach and chest piercing her body armor.

She collapsed to the ground with pain shooting through her entire body. She heard three loud booms and watched the three terrorists fall dead from Glaz's deadly precision.

"Glaz this is Six. What the hell is going on down there? Zo and IQ's vitals just plummeted." Six's voice buzzed in his ear piece.

"Six, defuser plant is critical. Team 2 is down. I repeat Team 2 is down. We're not gonna make it in time."

There was a moment of silence on the radio.

"I copy your information Glaz." Six's voice came back. "Team 1 are you direct on the information?"

"Team 1 copies direct." Ash's voice said.

"Team 1 deviate from your original course and move to the bomb site to reinforce Team 2. We're counting 2 minutes till detonation."

"Montagne and I are a little busy at the moment with bad guys but we're oscar mike."

"Proceed with caution. They're under heavy fire." Six warned.

Glaz peered through his thermal scope from his sniper's perch at the large double decker Boeing 747 passenger airliner in front of him. Through the small windows he could see bright yellow heat signatures darting back and forth outside of the bomb site which was located in the center of the plane on the second floor. On the bomb site laying on the ground in the fetal position lay the lonely heat signature of Zofia Bosak and she wasn't moving. He couldn't find IQ.

"Zo, this is Glaz. Do you copy?"

Silence.

"Zo, this is Glaz. Do you copy?"

"Zo, can you hear me?"

"Damn it Zo."

" _Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck"_ Zo's mind raced as she lay on the ground clutching her stomach. Enemy rounds flew over her as if she were caught in a swarm of angry hornets. She could hear enemy chatter through the walls.

She could feel her trembling hands feeling sticky from the blood coming from her open wounds. She tried to move her hand away, but the pain was too much.

"Zo, talk to me. What's going on down there?" Glaz said sounding as if he were begging.

Zo gutted up and moved her hand off her wound reaching for the push to talk on her radio. She grimaced and grit her teeth at the small movement. Her wounds began to leak blood when she removed her hands.

"Glaz… I'm hit. It's bad… really bad." She whispered as if she were out of breath.

"Copy that. I have visual of you. You're still completely surrounded. I need you to stay low while I take these guys out to avoid accidentally hitting you."

"Okay."

"Do you see the defuser?"

Zo looked around the large open seating area of the plane she was in. The bombs next to her continued to tick away.

Off in the corner of the room was the brief case size defuser computer that would scramble the timers on the bombs preventing detonation. Next to the defuser was IQ. The right sleeve of her grey hoodie was torn and charred black from the nitro cell thrown at her. Other then that she couldn't see any life-threatening injuries externally. She wasn't reacting or moving to anything which worried her.

"Yes, I see it."

"Those bombs need defused. We're short on time."

"I see IQ as well. She looks hurt."

"Don't worry about IQ. Focus on the mission."

"I don't think I can make it to the defuser."

"We have no other options Zofia. Team 1 isn't going to make it to you in time. It's all up to you."

Zo perked up at someone touching her.

She looked over her shoulder to see her younger sister Ela behind her examining her wound.

"Timur is right you know. You're running out of time." She said putting pressure on her wounds.

"It'll be suicide if I go for the defuser. I have to wait for backup."

Ela grabbed her by her shoulders and shook her violently trying to shake some sense into her sister.

"So, you'd rather get blown up instead? Zo, you have a family. If you give up, then you're giving up on them and you're giving up on me."

Ela had a good point. She thought about her husband, daughter, and younger sister.

"Okay fine. We'll do it your way."

Zo took in a deep breath and began to move to her feet. She gritted through the immense amounts of pain. Ela tried her best to help her up.

"There you go Zo. You're doing it." Ela's said encouraging her.

Zo made it to her feet and squatted behind one of the bombs. She drew her side arm. She could hear the 9 remaining terrorists she fired at earlier about to enter the room.

Zo keyed up on her radio.

"Glaz."

"Yeah?"  
"Cover me. I'm going for the defuser."

"Roger. Keep your head down." Glaz said zeroing his reticle on a terrorist's head.

He squeezed the trigger on his high-powered sniper rifle which responded with a thunderous boom. The rifle recoiled firmly into his shoulder. The round found its way into the side of a terrorist's head bursting it wide open like a smashed pumpkin.

He cycled to his next target which was staring at his dead teammate in shock. He squeezed the trigger landing another headshot. He kept repeating the action taking out one terrorist after another sending trying to buy time for his teammates by sending the enemy scrambling for cover.

He moved his sight picture to Zo who was crawling in the open for the defuser. He noticed a spot of yellow moving behind her.

"1 minute till detonation." Six's voice said.

"Zo, on your six." Ela said urgently.

Zo rolled onto her back and fired her pistol gunning down a terrorist entering the room from the corridor behind her.

Another terrorist turned the corner and Zo gunned him down too. A third terrorist ducked behind a group of seats for cover and began to shoot at Zo wildly. More terrorists began to crowd in the corridor firing at her.

"Glaz where's that damn cover fire? I'm getting lit up over here!"

"Patience Bosak." Glaz hissed as he lined up his reticle for a collateral kill. He fired killing three terrorists with one bullet.

"30 seconds till detonation. You need to start defusing. We're out of time." Six's voice said.

Zo made it to the defuser in the corner of the room and opened the lid. The computer inside the explosion proof box was still intact.

She looked over to IQ who still hadn't moved from her spot. Ela was squatting in front her examining her injuries.

"How is she?" Zo asked as she began to type on the computer.

"She's fine. Just worry about those bombs."

"15 seconds left." Six said.

"Ten seconds."

"Come on Zo." Glaz said squeezing off another shot downing a terrorist.

"5 seconds."

With a second to spare Zo typed in the last computer command. The defuser alarm began to shriek and flash as its defusal process halted the timers on the bombs.

"Defend that defuser Rainbow." Six said on comms.

The last remaining terrorists began to unload everything that had on Zo ripping the entire room apart with their rounds.

"GLAZ WHERE YOU AT?" Zo shrieked keeping her body low to the floor.

"Just hang in there…" Glaz said zeroing in another terrorist. He was about to fire but he heard rounds begin to skip over his head. He moved his body out of the way quickly but lost his balance and fell from the high reach crashing onto the hot tarmac below.

Zo heard a painful cry from Glaz's radio and then silence.

"Glaz?! Glaz?!"

Glaz didn't answer.

IQ began to groan and rub her head.

"What happened?" She asked looking around the chaos surrounding her.

"IQ keep your head down!" Zo yelled firing her pistol.

"Team 1 is on location." Ash's voice said.

Zo could hear someone rapidly firing a pistol followed by what sounded like Ash's R4-C. She peaked her head out from the corner to see Montagne, the French giant, pushing his way into the bomb site with Ash using him as mobile cover.

"GET BEHIND ME!" Montagne yelled as he positioned himself in front of the wounded Zo and IQ in the corner. The terrorists began to fire at Montagne's shield but their efforts at taking him down were fruitless. Ash rushed over to help her fallen teammates. She put pressure on Zo's wounds to stop the bleeding. From the way Zo's uniform looked she'd lost a lot of blood while trying to defuse the bombs.

"30 more seconds. Stay with me Zo." Ela said keeping an eye on the defuser.

One terrorist turned a corner into the bomb site and was dumb enough to rush Montagne while his shield was fully extended. The terrorist charged at the mountain in front of him with a rebel yell. Montagne retracted his shield back to normal size and drew his six shooter in one fast motion like cowboys do in the movies. He placed a round into the terrorist's cranium popping it like a grape. The amount of skill and precision Montagne had with his shield and six shooter gave Ela chills.

"I hate when Monty does that to us with his shield in training." Ela said staring at the dead terrorist.

Five more terrorists piled into the bomb site aiming their guns at Montagne's fully extended shield.

"Guys, we have a problem here." He said staring down the 5 enemies in front of him.

Then the diffuser stopped beeping and glowing. The bombs began to shut themselves down. The terrorists looked at each other shocked at their loss.

Six's voice came over comms.

"That's it we got it. Bombs are defused. Reinforcements are on the way. Touching down soon. FALL BACK! FALL BACK!" Six said over the comms.

All five terrorists pulled out blocks of nitro cells and primed them. They knew their plan was foiled but they weren't ready to give up just yet.

"Uh oh." Monty muttered from behind his shield.

Ash turned her attention from Zo to the enemies in front of her.

"What's the matter Mon… oh... you got a plan?" She asked staring nervously at the men with nitro cells.

"Yes."

"What's that?"  
"Pick up your friends and run like hell when I give you the signal."

"What's the signal?"

"This."

Montagne threw down his shield and drew his six shooter. Ash lifted Zo into a fireman's carry and dragged IQ behind her and ran for the door.

Montagne held his six shooter at his hip and placed a hand over the hammer of his revolver. He began to rapid fire the revolver like Jordan Trace had shown him when they watched the movie Tombstone. He slammed the jammer down with his palm after each shot.

He dropped all five terrorists.

The operators began to rush for the exit of the plane unsure of how many enemies were left. Zo watched the world around her bounce up down as she was carried out of the plane. Glaz was waiting for them at the exit.

"Hurry. Let's get out of here." He urged them and began to limp after them.

They could hear footsteps behind them chasing after them. A terrorist turned a corner and threw an impact grenade at the fleeing operators as they ran through the exit. The explosion threw the operators forward tossing them head over heels down the flight of stairs leading to the tarmac.

A terrorist poked his head from the door and was about to fire at the downed operators laying on the hot tarmac, but Ash pulled her 1911 and capped him in the head. His corpse went rolling down the stairs and landed at Ash's feet.

Zo stared at the blue sky above her. Her skin roasted against the hot asphalt. Her sisters face appeared over her blocking her view.

"Hey sis." She said smiling.

Ela picked up her older sister's hand and held it tight.

"Good job out there. I'll see you at home. I love you." She said with a smile and her image began to disappear.

Zofia couldn't help but beam. She hadn't heard Ela say she loved her since they were little girls. The fact that her younger still loved her despite everything they've been through warmed her heart.

The end.

 **Authors Note:**

And that's all folks. This story was an absolute joy to write and I thank all you for your love and support. I couldn't have done it without you. I'm not sure what I'll be doing for another story but if you guys have any idea I'd be happy to hear them. I'll see you in the next story! 😊


	24. The Sequel

To my amazing readers,

I've been floating around with some ideas for a new story. I have read all of your reviews and private messages and have decided to take your suggestions and make a sequel to Rainbow Six Siege: Undercover. Let me know what you think of my idea for a sequel. I'm still working out some of the details with the story, but I wanted to show you guys thought first. Let me know if you like it or not and if you have any suggestions to make it better! The sequel is called **Rainbow Six Siege: Shattered Skies** and the link to the sequel is right here: s/13080421/1/Rainbow-Six-Siege-Shattered-Skies

Thank you and much love 3,

reactive


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